The Life and Times of Lord Shen
by Domenic
Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. UPDATE: Chapter 16.
1. ghost boy

**Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen**

**Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. (1. ghost boy: A prince is born too early, too white, and too weak to cry.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.**

**Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.**

**A/N: I've only seen Kung Fu Panda 2 once, but hope to see it a second time soon (and give more ref/inspiration for this fic). And this has been mostly started in earnest because I haven't seen any really substantial Lord Shen fic at all yet (which I think makes sense, since the movie hasn't been out long).**

**ETA: After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"-a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit, and now this will, well, officially continue to go in more of an order with all of the stories interconnecting a lot more as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more.**

ghost boy

The Peacock clan's new prince had hatched prematurely, with too small a body and with too weak a voice to cry. Worst of all was that he was randomly, freakishly, permanently a sickish and deathly pale white. Commoner and noble peacock alike; from the villages to Gongmen City; all other manner of beast in the province—together, they whispered over such a bad omen befalling the Peacock clan's new heir. All agreed he would not be long for this world.

Deeper within the court, the royal physician whispered even more quietly, his doubts that the Lord and his Lady could conceive again.

Distraught, they lingered less and less by their son's side—their son who wasn't entirely silent, whose coughs wracked his pathetically small body; whose eyes had not opened once, even when they had shaded him from the light as much as possible and left him in cool darkness. Who still hadn't cried, or shrieked, or chirped. Just that agonizing cough.

Finally they stopped coming altogether. Their physician and nursemaids no longer stayed in the room, keeping vigil in the hall, waiting to be called upon by their Soothsayer advisor—only she remained with the hatchling.

And when Prince Shen did open his eyes, hers was the first face he saw. But still, he did not cry.

###

At four years old, the Prince did not speak.

Citizens of the province were now convinced he was ill in the head as well. Or they entertained the notion he was mute. Mute and deaf and dumb.

Still the province hadn't completely given up on expecting him to die—the boy had grown, but not much. It had been rumored how his body was still definitely ill, weak and runty, taken to bed much of the time. His feathers still a doomed white.

Shen remained in the Soothsayer's care. He stayed in her apartment on the castle's grounds. He liked to follow the elderly goat wherever she went. Her guardianship had gone on with tacit, silent permission, until finally the Soothsayer and the Prince's parents had a brief conversation to officially transfer responsibility, and to tentatively discuss some plans for the boy's future should he continue living. The boy was of course not present for such a meeting, or even cognizant of such detail.

Shen was cognizant of writing though. He could read. He could take direction. Though the Soothsayer could teach him all that, she could not get him to speak, even if that had been the first thing she tried.

No matter how much the Soothsayer pointed at an object and repeated its name, Shen would not say a word. He would stare intently though; the Soothsayer knew he understood—but his beak remained closed. Finally she showed him how to write a character, just one. Then the Soothsayer pressed the brush into his feathers, and he copied her on a new sheet. It was a childish scrawl befitting his age, but it was legible. She continued teaching him how to write, and went on to vocabulary, taught him how to string sentences together, the rules and parts of grammar. That, Shen grasped.

The Soothsayer thought that would get Shen to read aloud, but no such luck. At least he could write down the name of practically any object she pointed to, unless it was something he'd never seen or learned about before.

The Prince's parents fared no better. When the problem had first become noticeable, they had Shen brought before them.

Lord Baojia and Lady Fen tried to ignore any pangs they felt at the way the boy stood behind the Soothsayer, clutching at her cloak, shooting them nervous and confused looks. They had left the boy in their advisor's care, after all.

Still, it wasn't as if this was the first time since they had seen him when he was a hatchling. The Soothsayer had told Shen before they were his parents, had pointed them out. But encounters between his birth and this point were few and far in between. Shen knew who his mother and father were, yes—but the boy had trouble remembering the last time he saw them. This, of course, he kept to himself.

The Lord and his Lady approached him, trying to talk with the boy, get him to answer their questions ("how are your lessons?" "what have you learned?" "have you been good for your Nana?"). As they steadily spoke and their son steadily said nothing, except nodding or shaking his head to their questions that were 'yes' or 'no,' it wasn't lost on the couple that this would be the longest conversation they had with Shen. Things were even more awkward as the boy kept shrinking closer and closer to the Soothsayer as his parents approached, the Soothsayer trying to detach the boy and have him face his parents. It got to a point where the young peacock and the goat walked in a stubborn circle for a full five seconds as their goals conflicted, before their Lord ordered them to stop, and they realized the elder peacocks no longer drew close.

The dismissal was not unkind, and the Prince felt lighter once he was out of the throne room, but the Soothsayer's mind was even more uneasy.

She said as much in private with her masters. Eventually, the Soothsayer left Shen with his father for a little while. Baojia had some free time before his next meeting with the council—his wife, however, was not. She had travelled to another village, trying to smooth over the latest scandal with her youngest sister. In the time in between, the Soothsayer had told the boy more about his parents; told him it was all right to be nervous since he wasn't used to them; tried to get him more accustomed more to the idea of being alone with them. He'd silently absorbed the information and even hesitantly nodded when the Soothsayer made him promise to try with his father, and to be good the day before. But still on the actual day, Shen shot the Soothsayer a desperate look when his father's back was to him.

The Soothsayer smiled softly, but shook her head all the same, and went down the stairs, leaving the two peacocks alone.

Lord Baojia silently regarded his son, carefully observing him (trying to ignore the chill down his spine at the boy's ominous color). Shen looked down at his talons, fidgeting. His head didn't make it to the top of Baojia's leg. (He should've by now, shouldn't he? If he were well...)

"You've seen Master Thundering Rhino spar, yes?" Baojia asked, remembering that Rhino had told him of his son watching him and the other warriors practice Kung Fu, with avid interest—only to dash off when Rhino called out to the boy. Baojia would only admit to himself his immediate flash of disappointment then, after feeling a spark of tentative pride; but he'd acknowledged Master Rhino's wisdom, when the warrior had said Shen was no different from other young children who were intimidated by his size. He'd even remarked that it wouldn't be too long before he was ready to start training—to which Baojia declined. Rhino had bowed solemnly, taking his leave, reminding his Lord that such great protection may not be in the Prince's best interests at the end of the day.

Shen's eager nod brought Baojia back from once again considering Rhino's words. "So you know of the Kung Fu arts, then?"

Again, the boy nodded happily. He liked Kung Fu—watching Master Thundering Rhino and the other warriors, hearing the stories from the Soothsayer.

"Where did you learn about them?"

Shen's smile faltered; and he began to twist the end of his robe. He knew there was something wrong with him, he wasn't an idiot. His color wasn't right and he was too small, too weak, and he got sick a lot; and even when his throat wasn't sore, it would grow tight and no voice would ever come out, while everyone just talked and talked over his head, and a lot of the time they thought he couldn't hear or understand anything they said, when _of course_ he could. He wasn't an idiot.

Baojia withdrew. "It was the Soothsayer, correct?"

Shen nodded; his throat loosened. Nana was right about his father being kind.

_What has she told you about Kung Fu?_

"Did she tell you were Kung Fu came from?" Baojia asked instead.

Shen shook his head, his eyes wide.

Lord Baojia wrapped one wing gently around his son's shoulders, and guided him to the throne. He sat down, and made room for the boy (he didn't have to give much), and had him sit before him, both wings wrapped around his small frame. Shen was calm in his father's embrace. It occurred to Baojia he had never held his son before.

"Across the sea, there is a place called the Galapagos Islands. A thousand or so years ago, a tortoise swam all the way from there to China. His name was Oogway..."

Shen listened, entranced, but said nothing when Baojia was done, had no questions. But he was smiling, and waiting. Baojia told him more stories, of Oogway's student Shifu, of the Sword of Heroes, of the Dragon Warrior legend.

Baojia could tell the boy was entertained, and nestled in closer to him with each story, but the Lord was growing more frustrated with his silence. The Soothsayer told him the boy could read and write; he could comprehend, he understood 'yes' or 'no' questions. Then why would he say nothing? They had even had the Prince's throat examined by the physician, who had said that it was perfectly fine. It wasn't like when Shen had been too weak to cry when first hatched, and even then he eventually gained the strength to speak that infantile language. Although there had been times when Shen had grown sick with a sore throat, and couldn't even cough—the only sound Baojia had ever heard from his son were coughs, followed by cries, and not even that now. That could be just due to age, but Shen never even gave a weepy temper tantrum (though admittedly Baojia didn't see the boy enough to know if he did have temper tantrums).

Baojia finished with a story of Shen's grandfather, his predecessor. Afterward, the boy still remained quiet.

Baojia scooted his son off the throne. "One day," he told Shen, "when you're older, you will sit here, by yourself." He went to the stairs, the boy trailing behind him.

"How does that sound to you, son?" Baojia tried again.

The boy flashed him a quick, wide-eyed look, then looked down at his walking talons and pulled at a string on his robe, a nervous tic.

"Shen?"

His son continued staring at his talons.

Lord Baojia felt some of his control slip. "Shen, answer me," and he grabbed the boy's shoulder too tightly, and at the wrong moment. Shen was in mid-step, and stumbled, almost falling. His father pulled him back to a firm step, his grip tightening even more; Shen winced, his eyes squeezed shut for a second.

"Are you all right?" Baojia asked, checking the boy over, his shoulder. He had not meant to—his son was weak, what if he'd hurt him?

Shen shook his head, looking mutinous. Baojia felt nothing broke in his shoulder; relieved, he hadn't seen the mutiny in his son's red eyes.

Stiffly Lord Baojia continued down, Shen following still. Baojia stopped at a landing halfway down the tower, Shen abruptly coming to a halt and almost treading on his father's tail feathers.

"I have a meeting to attend now; the Soothsayer should be in the library." And Baojia stepped down again—but froze when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He looked up to his son, grasping it. "What is it?"

Baojia felt some expectation when Shen opened his beak—then snapped it shut, uncertain.

He finally lost all control.

"I don't have any more time for your dead silence, boy," Baojia snapped, tugging his sleeve away and walking down the stairs without a backwards glance at his son. Already he kicked himself for his poor choice of words—especially 'dead.' But gods, how could it not pop in his head with the boy's damned color mocking him, his silence as deep as any white ghost, his weakness and poor health pointing to an early grave and the end of his family's bloodline? Would the child even live long enough to sit on the throne?

Shen watched his father's back, until it disappeared, followed by his tail feathers.

The Prince lingered for a time.

###

After setting down tea and a small bowl of dumplings, the Soothsayer heard the click of talons on the floor, and turned to watch her child walk in, his small frame deflated.

"Something sweet and warm for my Prince," she said, pouring him a cup. Shen dragged himself over and accepted the cup. The Soothsayer glanced pointedly at the dumplings, but Shen didn't grab one.

At least he quietly drank his tea, though his red eyes were distant. The Soothsayer found them too distant for someone his age.

"Would you like me to tell you a story?"

Shen slammed his empty cup down.

"No more stories."

The Soothsayer stared after Shen as he dashed for his room, her heart heavy with a bitter shock.

At four years old, the Prince spoke.

**A/N: I found online that Baojia means "protects the family," and Fen means "fragrant." Baojia sounded neat and had an interesting meaning in relation to this fic, and Fen…well, just sounded neat to me and superficially said something about Shen's biological mother's beauty. And I'm just making up these names (and personalities and histories) for Shen's parents, since they're key figures in the movie, but they are kind of blank slates—blank enough to not get names, as far as I know. And the hierarchy I was going with was just Prince (or Princess) to Lord (or Lady) in the Peacock clan, who I say rule a relatively large province (Gongmen Province) with Gongmen City as their capitol, whom I say Master Thundering Rhino has worked with for a while; and I also say that since it's a Peacock clan, there's the peacock royalty in charge, the peacock nobility and the peacock commoners, along with other animals such as the wolf guards, rabbits, antelope, sheep, etc. in Gongmen City/Province, who are under peacock rule or whomever they appoint. Ah, fanon. Oogway from the Galapagos Islands is pretty much canon though, according to "The Art of Kung Fu Panda." Thanks for reading, and please review. There'll be another update to this (hopefully soon).**


	2. stuck up nail

Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen

Summary: A collection of stories on the albino peacock of Gongmen City. (2. stuck up nail: Shen wonders why the other peacocks are blue, not white.)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.

Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.

A/N: Thanks everyone for all the reviews! I always love hearing what people have to say about the fic and knowing they liked it. I've seen Kung Fu Panda 2 twice now. OMG, that opening. :D KFP openings, please continue to blow my mind. Can't wait to get it on DVD and watch it again and again. And I forgot to explain this last time-with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible. And I tried to individually reply to all your kind reviews at the bottom.

stuck up nail

Shen had been young, but he couldn't remember exactly when he realized-really comprehended how different he was from other peacocks. It was definitely before he got past whatever kept him from talking; that was for certain. (The Prince still felt some glow of pride when the Soothsayer said he only wanted to make sure he could say a complete sentence, calling him rather articulate for one his age. Whether it was one of the times she was teasing or not didn't matter.)

He had noticed variation fairly early on, of course. People in their world often did. Shen had realized how the Soothsayer was bigger, with large heavy horns, hard hooves, layers and layers of cloth; and that he was not the same, with feathers and talons and wings and a beak. And there were the wolf guards, who were furry with bushy tails and long snouts with sharp fangs. Everyone was so different.

But Shen at some point—maybe it was the first time he met them, maybe not—Shen had stared at his parents very hard, and thought they looked funny. They had feathers and talons and wings and a beak like him, and he could sorta see how he could maybe grow like them—the tail threw him, but the Soothsayer said his would grow to be that long too. But the funny thing was—well, they were so blue, with bits of green. It puzzled the boy—until he saw rabbits that were clearly rabbits, with long ears and protruding teeth and button noses and whiskers and cotton tails, but some were spotted, some were black, some were white like him. They were just different colors, different patterns—just like him and his parents were. But then he realized that some rabbits did resemble their parents' coloring.

He was further shaken when he finally comprehended at least one of the things the physician was talking about on another hated appointment. And all the very specific talk among servants and courtiers in the palace tower and on the grounds. Why they all would stare occasionally, though that was growing less as time passed and they remained working under his parents. It was new servants and such that would stare more, by comparison. He'd even once overheard his parents talk about it, something he never told another soul, not even the Soothsayer. Clearly, practically everyone agreed that there was something off about his color. How unbelievable; along with the fact that he was kept to bed too many times for him to bear and his voice issues at the time, his color was stupidly off.

But still it was just his blue-and-green parents and him, all in white and black and red. He had thought he knew, but he hadn't truly understood how different he was until he met other peacocks and peahens. That had happened at some festival hosted at the tower, with other peafowl invited. Shen wasn't sure why, but he and his parents were the only peafowl who regularly lived in Gongmen City, the rest of their clan in the province outside the capitol. Was it territorial, was it preference?

Either way he saw a sea of blue and green feathers enter the City, and felt even smaller than usual.

Why were they all so different? No, why were they all so much the _same_?

"Where are the white ones?" Shen had asked the Soothsayer, as his suspicion grew.

"Among your kind, I've only ever seen you in this color," she replied gently, confirming his suspicions. "As far as I know, no one else has either."

Wait…given the numbers…**he** was the one who was different. The _only_ one who was different.

"How come I don't look like everyone else?"

"You were born that way, my Prince."

"But _why_?"

"That, I do not know."

"Can't you find out?"

The Soothsayer smiled thinly. "Contrary to what you may have heard, I can only see forward, not backward."

"Did you know I wasn't going to be like everyone else?"

The Soothsayer shook her head. Shen wasn't entirely sure if he believed her. He'd heard from others and seen for himself how the Soothsayer liked to tease and toy with her seer ability. He also knew it was rather impossible to tell, or force her to be clear.

He sighed, slumping forward and resting his head on the banister of the balcony.

The Soothsayer put an arm around the young Prince.

"I know it's not easy being different."

Shen scoffed, quite loud.

"Now don't pout," the Soothsayer said, sharply pulling out a small feather. He yelped and glared at her, trying not to pout. "I didn't like being a soothsayer when I was a young woman."

Shen blinked. "You were born a…soothsayer?" She had said, 'a,' like it wasn't her name…but he had only ever heard her called that, or 'old goat,' 'old woman'...oh, maybe it was like a title, like his was 'Prince?'

The old goat nodded. "Yes. Visions of the future just…" She gestured with her hoof, looking for the word. Shen tilted his head. How odd, his Nana normally knew her every word. "...popped up, like daisies."

The boy laughed at the thought, and when he caught her smirking, he wondered if she was making fun again.

But her voice was solemn as she continued, "I tried to ignore them, but they kept coming all the same. And when I tried to understand, and tell others what I saw…well, they weren't as appreciative as your parents or their kin."

Shen looked at her; the goat looked so old. A sudden fear took him. Though people tried to whisper it, a lot of them said he'd die soon. What if the Soothsayer died first? She _was_ old, he'd heard she'd been with his family forever...

"But that was a long time ago, and all taken care of by now in my old age," the Soothsayer said cheerfully, but her last words made Shen wince.

The old goat glanced at him, giving a reassuring smirk, though some curious concern in her eyes. "What now?"

"I-um, what name w-were you born with?" Shen may've mumbled the last of his question. (He didn't feel like bringing up the possibility of his nanny's imminent demise from old age was the best thing to do at the moment, and truthfully, he never wanted to think about it, and letting it even happen was out of the question.)

But she answered promptly, "Jun." A beat. "But I don't really go by that anymore."

And then the fireworks started, and Shen forgot everything else, entranced by the fiery sky.

###

The festival was a week long. The peafowl guests would be here a while.

Shen just had to get better before they all left. He was nervous about it, but he really wanted to play with some peafowl his own age. Again, given whatever curious arrangements or preferences surrounded his clan, none lived in the palace tower or Gongmen City, not that he'd ever been to the City outside. Any children of the servants, courtiers and guards at the tower were either too young, too old, or simply kept their distance; Shen had seen some shrink under their parents' glance, and got the impression that their parents ordered them to leave their Prince alone for some reason.

The first night of the festival had been too hectic, and after that talk with the Soothsayer he'd woken up the next day feeling horrible. He'd tried to hide it, but the Soothsayer was irritatingly good at being all-knowing, especially when it came to his physical health; being a seer probably gave her an unfair advantage.

She and the physician confined him to the bed again, and he'd thrown a marvelous fit, hissing and shouting and flapping his wings. The Soothsayer was experienced with this too; she gave him The Look, and her hoofed hand was quick and tight, shutting his beak firmly, but not harsh. He settled down after that and laid back on his bed, glaring for a couple of seconds before passing out. When Shen woke up, he didn't feel much better; he was slightly feverish, and everything was spinning.

Jun-no, the old goat, old woman, the Soothsayer-anything but Jun, he could tell by her tone that she meant what she said, she didn't go by it anymore, she didn't like it anymore-she gave him tea and forced him to eat a little bit of soup even though he really wasn't hungry. Then the physician, an antelope he'd known his whole life and detested simply because he was so tied up with his poor health and wasn't like the Soothsayer at all-he gave him foul tasting medicine. (That, too, was reason enough for his four-year-old mind to despise him.) Shen went back to sleep again.

He was mostly dreamless for a while. Just the physician's words wrapping around his head again and again, droning on about something bad about his immune system, whatever that was-Shen was curious, but also simply too terrified to ask the physician what that was, or what exactly was wrong with him; what if it was worse than the snippets he caught, though he tried to block it all out? It had been bad enough to hear him talk about his color.

Speaking of which, the dream shifted, with images and action and sensation beyond echoing words: he was literally drowning in a pond from one of his mother's gardens that was too big and too blue and too green and too hot boiling bubbling burning and oh god oh god he was going to die he was really going to die like everyone said like his parents thought they must think that that's why they don't want to see him 'cause he's gonna die on them anyway oh god oh god Nana Nana _**Nana**_

Shen woke up gagging and crying in the Soothsayer's arms. His head was heavy, and felt like it was on fire. The old goat said 'fever' at some point, but the Prince just focused on the hoof making soft circles on his back as he hiccupped into her fur.

She laid a cold wet cloth on his forehead and lit incense, smoke curling around his head, and staring at it made him dizzy.

He tried to stay awake, he was never going to sleep again, no, never ever. The Soothsayer was helping with that too, telling him a story about a brave snow white lady hawk that saved her seven mountain goat friends from a witch that poisoned the fields. He had to know how it ended-but his eyes were drooping…no, she was tricking him, tricksy lying Soothsayer, he was going to tell her so himself, but his tongue felt heavy and his head fuzzy, and his eyes slipped shut and he slept some more.

Shen lost all meaning of time. Lost all sense of what was going on. When he was conscious and feeling better, the Soothsayer told him three days had passed. Since he _was_ feeling better, he'd tried to get up then, but the Soothsayer told him in no uncertain terms he was going nowhere.

"Would you like to play a game?"

The Soothsayer had devised all manner of activities for him whenever he was sick and conscious of boredom at the same time.

"No," he pouted. Then he coughed, souring his mood more.

He folded his wings and turned his back on the Soothsayer, so she wouldn't see his face when he asked a question he'd practiced in his head before. He tried to keep his voice formal and simply curious; "Have my parents come by?"

She'd heard his practiced question before. It typically varied, but there was always that same core of sadness in the Soothsayer's response that always made his blood run hot and shamed; this time she said, "I'm sorry, my Prince, but they are busy attending to all of our guests..."

_Their_ guests, the Prince mentally corrected in his head.

"…they send you their apologies, and hope that you'll be well soon."

Shen curled in on himself, hugging one of his pillows. He poked at it with his beak, threatening to make holes in it.

"Look-a new game for you, child," the Soothsayer said, laying down an intricate box before Shen. His bed was a fine matting of blankets and pillows on the floor, so the wood-carved box lay level with him. The Soothsayer opened it, and took out small rectangles, beginning to prop them up. The young peacock watched, curious.

"These are dominoes," she explained, lining them up. She then pushed on one, and the rest fell down in a rush. "You can make them fall in all sorts of patterns," she said, quickly arranging them in a small spiral, then knocking them down again. Shen shifted, slowly propping himself up on the elbows of his wings, and started setting up his own arrangement of dominoes. He watched the curve and length of one of the Soothsayer's horns, and tried to make the dominoes stand like that. He wasn't as skilled or as precise as the old goat; a third of the way through, they fell down prematurely. He tried again; fell down halfway through. Finally they were set up right.

"See? It's your horn." Shen frowned. "You already knew, didn't you?"

"Don't need to be a seer to see that, my Prince," the Soothsayer replied, and he grinned, happily flicking the first domino and watching it go.

###

The next morning the Soothsayer deemed him well enough to leave the bed. Shen eagerly got up, but before he bolted from the room, the old goat recommended he take a toy to share. The child Prince immediately went for the dominoes, but decided the surfaces outside wouldn't be flat enough for them. He looked through several more toys (sometimes the boy wondered if he had more than what would be normal, since he was sick often and confined to his room). Shen finally settled on a wooden caterpillar whose wheels were sturdy enough to roll over most terrain.

He and the Soothsayer went to a particularly long stretch of interconnecting gardens, and found other young peafowl playing there. The Soothsayer craned her neck, and found other antelope and rabbit servants keeping an eye on the children. There were even some of their mothers taking tea together and chatting, their blue plumage shining in the light.

"Now dear-"

She stopped, looking down when her cloaks rustled, finding Shen in the familiar spot behind her back, though he wasn't clutching at the fabrics (though perhaps that was because he carried his toy). He peeked out at the other children.

"Getting cold feet, are we?"

The white peacock blinked up at his caretaker, then shook his head. "No, they feel better, I _told_ you-"

"Just an expression, my dear," the old goat replied smoothly, biting back her amused chuckle. She gently guided him forward. "Come now, you were begging me to let you out before."

His talons shuffled along. He mumbled, "I forgot they were bigger than me..." Had he really even noticed before?

The Soothsayer laughed. "You just need a little more meat on your bones." She lightly squeezed his shoulders. "Everyone's different-"

_Especially me_, Shen thought bluntly.

"-and most of them are your age."

She bent forward slightly, explaining, "I've been summoned for a ritual. I'll be back later, so mind the servants and your guests' mothers until then," and the old goat gestured to them bordering the gardens.

She then patted his head and trotted off.

###

"Hey-er, hi-hello, I'm-I am-Shen-um, Prince Shen-"

The white peacock had hidden behind a tree before anyone had seen him, and was busy practicing in whispered words to his wooden caterpillar toy. He wanted to make a good impression, he'd heard his mother before say those were important. The action was not untried for the boy; he'd practiced before when he was nervous, and his toys listened well. But other times he simply talked to them about all sorts of things when he was alone.

"It's nice-very nice to-"

Shen stopped when a padded ball whizzed by his tree and landed softly in the stretch of grass before him. The boy put the caterpillar toy down and picked up the ball.

He turned back, the other young peafowl coming down the hill for their ball. Shen silently offered it to them. He found the silence became deafening when they all froze and didn't say anything, just staring at him. Even if he experienced less staring, he should've been used to it by now.

Shen got his mouth to work, once his brain remembered, "HeyI'mShenit'snicetomeetyoucanIplaywithyou?"

His wings were starting to feel stiff when the silence kept stretching out.

Maybe if he went slower. And more formal. Like, no contractions.

"Hello, I am-"

"We know who you are," snapped the biggest peahen among them, her beak looking severe from her frown. A smaller peacock (but still bigger than Shen) looked up to her, and whispered loudly, "He really is white-"

"Shut up, Fuu-"

"Do you really think he's a ghost, Sis, like Uncle said-?"

"I said-"

"-you _said_ Uncle was lying about the Prince being white, but he is too-"

"I'm telling mother-"

"I'll tell her you were gonna ditch me to make googly eyes at Mr. Xing's son, Ran-"

The other children's eyes were shooting from the arguing siblings to their Prince, who was rapidly shrinking even more before their eyes. Those who noticed that began to whisper to their neighbor, "He's so tiny-"

"I saw Lord Baojia, he's much bigger-"

"-and we have to listen to him when he's all grown up? He's a runt-"

"-nah uh, Baba says he'll-_y'know_-because he's sick and all-"

"-that why he's so pale-?"

"-he's not pale, he's _white_-"

"-remember we had to wear white for auntie's funeral-?"

"-yeah, it was horrible-"

"-hey, why are you white?"

Shen's mouth was dry. "What?" His beak opened and closed mechanically.

One of the peacocks repeated the question (he realized that except for the largest peahen, all the other peafowl were about the same size-there was some variation, some smaller than each other, but none as small as he).

"I dunno."

The biggest peahen snapped, "What do you mean?"

A peahen in a brown robe offered, "My big brother said our Lord and Lady must've done something bad, or someone else in the royal family did, and that's why you're white-"

"I. Don't. Know." Shen's wings were tightening around the other kids' stupid ball.

Fuu finally noticed it, and asked. "Can we have our ball back?"

The Prince mumbled something that sort of sounded like "sure," throwing the ball back to any one in the crowd.

He then straightened up, trying to remember how father sounded like when he gave orders. "I want to play with you."

A boy in a red robe said, "We'll, catch is getting boring-"

A girl in a flowery robe rushed toward Shen before he could react, pushing him a little and shouting, "You're it!" before running off, shrieking happily. Shen blinked as the other children ran around screaming too, one of them tossing the ball away. Except for the biggest peahen, who sat down and pulled out a scroll to read, grumbling about stupid brothers and wondering why she had to look after him and be stuck with all the babies.

Shen stayed put, looking at all the running peafowl, baffled.

The girl in the flowery robe stopped, looking back at him. She called out, "What are you waiting for?"

"Told you he's a runt-"

"What am I supposed to do?" He said loudly over one of the young peacock's irritating voices.

All the children paused and stared at him again. Shen felt the urge to scream.

"You never played tag before?"

Feeling an embarrassing warmth in his face, Shen instantly looked down and shook his head. Sometimes he'd watch the other children in the palace tower play, but never too long; he'd usually just go off by himself to find something else to do when they wouldn't play with him. He'd never noticed them play this 'tag' before.

"Well," said the girl, and Shen looked up. "I touched you, so you're 'It,' and you have to touch one of us, but we run away from you, so you'll have to catch us, and then they're 'It' and they chase you and everyone else around until they tag someone else. Okay?"

Shen nodded; "Okay." It sounded simple. Actually, it sounded similar to when he sometimes ran around, pretending that he was chasing bandits like Master Thundering Rhino did.

The girl and everyone else bolted again, and he gave chase.

Talons pounding on the grass, Shen was enjoying himself; it was nice chasing real targets, instead of always imaginary ones.

Admittedly, he wasn't tagging anyone. Not even getting any close. But what stung was when one of the boys noticed and said to a peacock he was chasing, "Slow down, dum-dum. You can't make a prince lose-"

Another chimed in, "And he doesn't feel well-"

Then worst of all, that boy actually slowed down. It just made Shen's stomach clench and boil.

He stopped, skidding in the grass, and shouted, "_No_!"

Again, everyone stopped and stared at him.

"You don't want to play anymore?"

"Told you we were going too fast, dum-dum-"

"-He's all tired out-"

Shen snapped, "No, that's not-I mean...look, I just don't want you to slow down for me, okay?"

The peacock in the red robe blinked at him. "But you can't keep up." He yelped as the girl in the flowery robe elbowed him.

"I can too," Shen said hotly, glaring. "I'll show you!"

All of them looked warily at each other, but began to run again. The biggest peahen was only pretending to read her scroll by then, watching her province's heir with morbid interest.

They were faster now, and Shen realized with a flash of irritation that they'd already had slowed down before. It was a larger flash of something beyond irritation that he had with himself when he realized that even then he hadn't kept up.

But Shen was determined, he would catch one, he would.

They dashed across the grassy fields and hills, around the pools of water and the trees. The servants and the mothers took turns keeping an eye on them and chatting away.

When Shen quickly switched his path to tag one peahen he thought was closest, he ran straight through a bush instead. He yelped when he caught on its brambles and thorns, but felt worse when he heard some of the other kids laugh. At least they didn't say they should slow down again.

Shen disentangled himself from the bush, yanking his leg out with a hiss. He heard more giggling, and immediately ran straight for that.

Have to catch one, at least tag one other person, he couldn't leave the game without tagging anyone, and he knew the Soothsayer would demand he stop and have lunch and he just had to tag someone before then-

All the other kids waited at the top of a hill. The Prince wasn't even at the bottom of that one.

Bile rising up in his throat, Shen pushed his legs to go faster. He didn't care if they'd run when he got near, he'd be quicker, he just needed to touch one-Shen stumbled, coughing.

_No no no, not now_-

Shen held in the rest of his coughs with tremendous effort. He started slowly up the hill, his chest and legs shaking. Some coughs stupidly got out, but he wouldn't let them out in a row, not start a fit, not in front of all the other kids. He could already feel their eyes on him.

The Prince got to the top but didn't tag any of them. They didn't run, they just waited. He didn't want to tag anyone when they weren't even running, weren't even trying.

Shen noticed they'd gone in a circle. They were back at the tree were he left his wooden caterpillar toy, and close to the biggest peahen with her scroll.

His legs trembling, Shen stumbled again, and wished everyone wasn't looking at him. He coughed again, this time one after another, no matter how hard he tried to stop.

"Are you all right?"

"You should've let us slow down."

"We said you couldn't keep up."

"Where's the goat?"

"The goat?"

"I heard that's his nanny."

"Sis, is it contagious?"

A second passed before everyone took a step away from the Prince.

"_No it's not_!" He shouted at them, choking back another cough. In that instant, when he saw how nervous they looked, crowding around each other, still retreating, Shen hated them all.

The Prince gulped once, twice. Counted to ten like the Soothsayer advised whenever he was mad. Then he went to the tree and held out his caterpillar toy to them.

"You can play with him, if you want. He can roll all over." Shen wouldn't admit he ruined their game, though he was beginning to feel that he did.

Fuu looked at him, then to his sister with her scroll. "Sis, do you think it's contagious if he just touched it-?"

The child cried out when Shen threw the caterpillar toy straight into his face.

###

The Soothsayer found the Prince waiting outside for her in the hall, curled over his broken caterpillar toy.

The antelope servant waiting with him explained to her what had happened, how the other children had panicked and wanted nothing more to do with the boy, their mothers taking them away. (Shen curled up into a tighter ball as he remembered one of the mothers hissing that a bad omen like him shouldn't be near children.)

The Soothsayer thanked her, and then the servant left.

Shen hid his face when his caretaker drew close. She gently tugged on his broken toy. He let her pull it out.

She examined it, and said, "Don't worry, dear, it can be fixed."

The Prince sniffled. The Soothsayer lifted his head. Forced to look at her, he whimpered out, terrified, "Are you mad?"

The old goat kissed his forehead. "No, my Prince." When his head began to lower, she made him look up at her again. "You do know what you did was wrong, yes?"

The boy nodded.

The Soothsayer sighed, "Now what happened?"

Shen mumbled, "She told you what happened."

"Yes, but I want to know your side of the story." Shen blinked at her. The Soothsayer put his toy down and took his wings in her hoofed hands. "What you did was wrong, but I know you wouldn't do it without some reason, just like I'd know you'd feel some remorse, as you do now."

The boy looked up at her, opened and closed his beak a couple of times-then shook his head and looked down.

The Soothsayer pursed her lips, but nodded her head. "All right, dear; you don't have to tell me now, but I want to know later."

She then pulled him up and led him down the hall. "Come, what shall we have for lunch? I saw a booth earlier that was serving spring rolls-"

The two passed a couple of peacock noblemen the Soothsayer recognized. She drew her charge closer, but felt the boy stiffen under her hoof as she heard the men speak:

"The Prince? Why is it left to the Soothsayer to discipline him? What will she do, teach him sleight-of-hand tricks?"

"Our Lord and Lady left him in her charge, what else were they to do with him, short of putting him out of his misery-"

"But to let him run wild-my wife told me he hurt another child-"

"-sounds like he has more spine than we give him credit for, then."

"I overheard a servant say he nearly passed out from the effort."

"Well then, perhaps your little hellion will burn himself out and leave you with one less worry over next in line to rule."

The Soothsayer could hear Shen's beak grind. Her control loosened somewhat-the hand around her cane clenched it, tight.

###

After the festival (good riddance to all the _normal_ peafowl), Shen played a game by himself (the best sort, he didn't need any other stupid kids and their dumb mothers), where he was a warrior who'd chased the bandits down and was fighting them off with a makeshift sword he made out of sticks and twine.

He dashed along the edge of a pond's bank, enjoying the mud between his talons and the splashing water around them. Then the boy glanced at the pond.

There was his reflection, and he-well, he just really looked at it.

He didn't look like his parents. He didn't look like any of his people. Didn't look like anyone, really.

Shen threw his sword into the pond, breaking his reflection. He scratched at it, kicking up more mud and water, hissing at his stupid ugly **white** face. Mud was kicked up into his face, cooling it and his temper down. The boy stopped, staring at his returning reflection. He watched the mud drip down his forehead, down his cheek, with interest.

The boy then wiped himself off and ran for the court artists' studios. He didn't care if he wasn't thinking clearly. The boy broke in there, stealing paint jars.

Shen returned to the pond with his ill-gotten gains. He twisted off the cap of a jar and splashed the paint across his face, eyes closed. His wings wiped it around, spreading along more feathers.

The boy stopped, checking over the blue paint on his face. It was dripping down his neck, to his chest, and pooling on his robe. He poured more and more blue paint, wiping it down on his wings, more on his neck, on what little tail feathers he had at his age. Shen looked back at his reflection periodically-but paused when he saw it perfectly blue, as if it wasn't paint, as if he were born that way...

Shen paused when he saw his eyes weren't red in the reflection. And the beak was too long.

He whirled around, staring up at his mother.

Her face was curiously blank, yet she asked, "Shen, what are you doing?"

"Why am I different?" The boy snapped instead, stomping away from the pond and turning his back on the older peahen.

His mother's sigh sounded so tired.

"I don't know, Shen." Lady Fen walked toward her son, stretched out a wing to touch his shoulder. But in the space in between, she recalled watching the Soothsayer feed an infant Shen; the Soothsayer read to a child Shen; the Soothsayer take her coughing son to the physician. The way he hid behind the old woman, and looked to her, regarding her with the confusion he had for strangers...

The peahen's wing fell (it didn't belong there, did it?)

"Come inside, you need a bath. I'll have the artists' paint replaced."

Shen dutifully trudged after his mother.

A/N: Popping up like daisies is a total Disney's Mulan reference.

I can imagine that the Soothsayer's backstory is pretty intense and crazy. Maybe one of these days I'll do fic on that too. That, and after seeing the movie twice, her seer ability, the details and mechanics of it and everything still seem ambiguous to me, so now I'm taking artistic license.

I got a kick out of learning that Jun=Truth in Chinese. It may be sort of on the nose with saying that's the Soothsayer's birth name in this, but I'm a big fan of "Avatar: the Last Airbender," and their bounty hunter character Jun is quite cool, and now I get a kick out of thinking of young!Soothsayer being like that Jun. (Maybe even being a bounty hunter, LOL-soothsaying abused by a young woman could maybe work at trapping your targets or figuring out their next move.)

Taking artistic liberty with how sickly Shen is/was. I'd say he was pretty sickly as a child, but when he gets older it is less of an issue, since I do want this to mess with canon, and in the film on-screen he's pretty formidable physically.

I imagine why though there is probably a Peacock clan, Shen's the only peacock we ever see because peacocks are incredibly hard to animate, or KFP's are. Their animation with Shen is so incredible, a lot went into it.

The Soothsayer's "The Look" is pretty much a ref to the awesome "Spectacular Spider-Man" animated series.

Also, any medical treatment and such is under artistic liberty too (somewhat justified by young!Shen's POV).

The Soothsayer's story is a riff on "Snow White."

The last scene with Shen's mother was inspired by a similar scene in Disney's Tarzan.

Iron-Mantis: I was hoping to get across in the first part that Shen's parents _did_ love him, even hints of it. Like I said above, I'm trying to mix on-screen canon with "all there in the manual" backstory I found on and a Kung Fu Panda wiki, so I do want to the on-screen fact that they did love him and died of grief after banishing him…but to also go with them probably neglecting him all his life (and I would say a lot of this is because of his very poor health when first born, and their fear of watching him die, so they sorta detach themselves before what they see as the painful inevitable; and it's all impacted by the fact that this is their only child, and their royal line will probably end with him-and as far as I can tell, it **does** in canon; and it's impacted by another story point that should pop up later). Hopefully in future parts I can develop this more and make it more clear (though not, er, anvilicious or too obvious-I guess I just want the parents' feelings to be complicated; I can buy them still being neglectful and disappointed-even _before_ the panda massacre-in him, although they did love him).

Nobility: Thank you. Yeah, when I learned about it afterward, I was sad they mostly cut Shen's backstory. Glad you like the names for his parents. I just realized that 'Fen' and 'Shen' are rather close too letter-wise, etc., so that pleases me, makes me think it works better. (Like the parents planned to name their son that more for the mother-ooh, I think I want to figure how to add that to the fic proper.) When I was thinking about really exploring the off-screen backstory of Shen's sickliness (and ablino-ness) being a reason for division with his parents, I tried to consider what that could really mean, and I just began to consider how being the next in line for the throne would make him a public figure from day one and under his future people's scrutiny; it seemed to make sense they would all be very interested in his health, and with it being so severe, not have much hope he'll last. And even better (fictionally speaking), it does make Shen more sympathetic.

kirbygirl123: I admit, part of the point was to make you sad for a bit, so it's neat that it worked. Ooh, I look forward to any Shen fic you do. I was thinking about playing around with romance-with-a-peahen-lady for Shen too; I'd be curious to see what yours was like. :)

WhySoSerious1992, La Belle Demoiselle: Don't know what else to say but thanks, and hope you and everyone else enjoyed the update.

whiteflower122, Non Malum: I'm glad you found Little Shen cute, I wanted his child self at four years old and even as a new hatchling to be endearing.

International-Wonderland: I know, I want more Shen fic, because there really is a lot you can do with him, so much potential character development. And yes, I love that KFP has these amazing and fascinating heroes along with their really cool and complex villains. I just really wanted to write Shen though, and I think there's a point about backstories, because I at least fill that though Shen's backstory is still pretty mysterious (kinda hence the fic's point), I feel like I know more about him than say, Mantis and Monkey, for example (even with the awesome 2D "Secrets of the Furious Five" shorts on DVD).

Princess Gakoshi: Making your day is a really high compliment, I'm glad you enjoyed it that much. Like I said above, when exploring what Lord Shen's backstory as a sickly child could really mean, I just went with the idea that as a public figure from birth, his future people would be interested in the fact that he was really in poor health, and would expect him to die an early death, not to mention what those closer, the royal court, would probably think (or even plan). And that would benefit the story I think by making Shen more sympathetic. And I have a weakness for fictional angst and tortured characters too. Ooh, your Shen plotbunny sounds interesting-it actually reminds of this couple from "Avatar the Last Airbender;" admittedly, of this couple, Prince Zuko and Mai, it's never outright stated, but it's implied that Mai was always Zuko's betrothed, and Zuko went through some things that made Mai worry (and she ends up helping him out in a totally badass way-this Mai character is all about knives like Shen is). I look forward to your review on this update.


	3. the people you meet, the people you know

Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen

Summary: A collection of stories on the albino peacock of Gongmen City. (3. the people you meet, the people you know: A young Shen begins training in Kung Fu.)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.

Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.

A/N: Thanks again everyone for all the reviews! I always love hearing what people have to say about the fic and knowing they liked it. I've seen Kung Fu Panda 2 twice now. Also always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible. And I tried to individually reply to all your kind reviews at the bottom.

the people you meet, the people you know

After the incident with the children and the caterpillar toy at the festival, Lord Baojia and Lady Fen finally agreed with Master Thundering Rhino's suggestion that Shen learn some control while training in self-defense and Kung Fu.

After a few words and a laugh shared between the two, the Soothsayer left Shen with Thundering Rhino in the palace courtyard. The boy hadn't paid attention to their conversation, half of him too busy looking up at the Kung Fu master and marveling at how big he was, and how sharp his horn looked; the other half consumed by excitement and nerves. Shen had been eager when his nanny told him he would learn to defend himself, believing he'd prove that he wasn't so weak and that his parents wouldn't have to worry or be ashamed. He'd heard stories of their prowess in Kung Fu, and surely they were disappointed that their son wasn't shaping up to have the same skill-but that would change, he'd show them.

But what if they were right, what if he failed?

"Prince?"

"Master!" Shen jerked to attention, standing up as straight as possible and looking up, up at Thundering Rhino. The Soothsayer had advised that he listen to the Kung Fu master at all times, as well as be respectful.

"At ease," Thundering Rhino said, and the boy heard the slight amusement in his rumbling voice, "the martial arts need you to be more flexible." And Thundering Rhino began a form, slow and steady. Shen took the hint, and began to copy him as best as he could, and after a second he realized he'd seen the master do it before with his other students here in this very courtyard.

"Recognize this form, do you?" The master said, his mouth curved up slightly.

Shen began to nod-but that messed up his duplication of the rhino's form. He got back on track, just saying, "Yes, Master."

"You know, I first met Storming Ox when he would sneak in here, to watch me spar with your father," said Thundering Rhino, as he started to speed up in practicing the form.

The boy blinked, stumbling a little. He recovered, but asked, surprised, "Him too?" The white peacock remembered sneaking around the courtyard to watch Thundering Rhino and Storming Ox and other warriors spar, or sneaking a peek from one of the balconies. It sounded odd to think that one of them had ever done the same.

"Oh yes, he had a greater interest in learning Kung Fu than attending to his chores."

Shen remembered not to nod this time. Instead he murmured, "It's better than etiquette lessons." The boy had started those too, and they weren't simple instructions in manners he'd received from his nanny; oh no, they were stupidly intricate and complicated, with a set of rules devised for all sorts of different situations, such as what gesture showed great disrespect, what spoon to use and when, whether to exclude or include contractions in one's speech, et cetera, et cetera.

"Many things are preferable to that," Thundering Rhino agreed, smirking. He gracefully straightened up and bowed, and Shen did the shame, though more stiff, unsure whether he should keep his eyes on the rhino or lower them.

"On your own, now," the master ordered, and Shen complied. The boy tried to keep calm at the rhino's occasional correction, since it was never unkind and aimed toward getting it right ("lower your wings," "raise your leg," "keep your head level with your shoulders").

When he finished, Thundering Rhino nodded, and simply ordered, "Again."

The boy did it three more times without complaint, reminding himself what the Soothsayer said about obedience. Afterward Thundering Rhino showed him another form; although the boy recognized this one too, each pose was held longer, not moving continuously like the first, and Shen found it more difficult. The Prince grew frustrated at how he couldn't keep his talon up at a certain angle for a certain amount of time, stumbling and trying again; only to trip and even fall as he tried to regain balance; only to get back up again and try to move on as if nothing happened.

Thundering Rhino had him do the form again and again. Then repeating the first continuous one again; then back to the slower one; and so it went on. By the time the Kung Fu master ordered him to stop, Shen ached from head to talon. But looking at the rhino, Shen detected no disappointment, and guessed he'd done well enough, hadn't been weak-at least, he hoped so.

The master knelt down on the floor, and Shen followed suit. He would've thought his legs would've appreciated it, but they actually ached more at the motion.

Thundering Rhino closed his eyes, taking a in a deep breath. Shen copied him as he listened to him say, "Calm your mind; clear it of all thought."

That made the boy's eyes snap open, baffled. "You don't want me to think?"

Eyes still shut, the rhino smiled thinly, saying, "At the moment, no."

"I don't think I can-"

The Kung Fu master shook his head; "Try," he said, not unkindly.

Shen nodded hesitantly, and closed his eyes again.

"Remember your breathing; in, and out." Thundering Rhino's voice was low, soft. "Keep still."

The boy tried to think of nothing, but soon he thought of how he felt trapped in time. Somehow it felt like no seconds or minutes or hours passed, even though he felt something long and deep drag by.

Shen tried to keep still, with only his chest rising, but his wing shuffled restlessly, his face twitched and he shook his beak, as if to ward off a fly.

"Be still, Prince."

Shen reminded himself of how emotionless and distant his parents could look in the throne room when speaking with their court and giving orders and passing judgment. He just had to be physically like them, he could do that at least, if not in color-and mentally, except he wasn't because he was thinking of them when he shouldn't be thinking-

The boy shuffled some more and the rhino reminded him to be still, and after a while he said that was all for today, and Shen was still uncertain how much time actually passed, though it had felt long to him. The white peacock gratefully stood up, and found that his body ached in a new way.

"I couldn't stop thinking," the Prince admitted to Thundering Rhino, nervous.

The Kung Fu master gave a reassuring chuckle. "I'd be surprised if you had," said the rhino as he escorted the boy back to the Soothsayer for lunch.

###

Shen practiced the forms by himself in the palace courtyard. It was better homework than studying for a recitation of all the gestures he had to know for the winter festival. He did however skimp on meditation; the idea of not thinking still mystified and eluded him.

The boy paused when he felt someone watching him. He turned, looking to the palace walls, where he caught the eye of a wolf cub-who yelped and stumbled out of a view for a second, before climbing back up the wall and looking flustered.

The white peacock blinked, and walked forward, his head tilted.

"Where'd you go?" He asked, noting that the wolf cub had been climbing back into the palace courtyard, not out of it.

"Um, the city," the other boy answered, clutching a full satchel in his paw.

"Er-I mean, why were you there?" Shen looked up at the wolf cub still perched up on the wall. "How come you climbed the wall?"

"Top secret," the taller boy answered promptly. But then his ears lowered, and he looked unsure. "Wait, is that an order, um, Master? Do I have to answer you?"

Shen thought about it for a few seconds. Then he shook his head; "No, I guess not."

The wolf cub grinned at him. "Cool, thank you, Master."

The Prince glanced at one of the watchtowers bordering the palace tower. "But if it's a secret, what about the watchmen?"

The other boy blinked at him, snout open slightly, then followed the white peacock's line of sight. Both boys found one wolf staring at them intently, then give a chipper wave, smirking.

The cub groaned, smacking his face. "Damn it, not Jin! He's gonna hold this over my head when mom comes back..."

Shen shuffled from talon to talon; he knew the unpleasant feeling of being in trouble.

"Um, what's your name?"

The cub looked at him, and grumbled, "An."

Shen looked at him, confused. "You don't like it?"

First the Soothsayer, now this cub-what was wrong with their given names?

"It's a stinking name for a future guardsman!" An insisted.

"It sounds okay to me," Shen offered.

"No, Master, you don't know what it means."

"Oh. What does it mean?"

Realizing that his chance of having at least one person outside of his immediate family and some members of his pack not tease his name was slipping out of his paws, An said, "Um-Iwaswatchingyoudoforms."

Relieved that someone else talked really fast like he did sometimes, Shen nodded. "Yeah, I know, I saw you."

"Right. How did you know I was there? I was being quiet."

"I felt you staring."

"Oh yeah, I guess you would, with everyone gawking at you all the time."

"It's less now," insisted Shen, a tad miffed, but mostly unfazed since An had sounded matter-of-fact and a little dense, not malicious at all. "Only new servants do that now."

"Still, it'll be useful. My uncle's always telling my cousin off for not being aware of his surroundings, 'from the lightest twitch of grass to the slightest sound of your target scratching his bum-'"

Shen laughed, and An joined in, his turning into a gleeful howl.

"So, when did you start?" The wolf asked, once their chuckles had died down.

"Two weeks ago."

An tilted his head. "How old are you, Master?"

"Four. I'll be five next year."

An snickered. "Yeah, well, that's how birthdays tend to go-"

The wolf caught the annoyed glare on the white peacock's face.

"-er, I'm seven."

Shen felt a little better that An was older than him, it was a nicer justification for how much bigger he was.

The Prince opened his beak to ask another question, but snapped it shut when he heard his tutor in government call for him. He frowned; was it time for that class already? (He'd started lessons in government too, and his teacher had a dreadful monotonous tone that was hard to pay attention to.)

He perked up when he heard someone shout for An, watching the wolf's ears prick up.

"I've gotta go," An said, leaping off and heading in the opposite direction, probably planning to stash away whatever was in the satchel.

"Will you be back at this wall?" Shen asked quietly, as he began to slowly walk off too. An looked back at him, over his shoulder. "Yeah, probably. You can find me in the barracks too, if you want." The wolf blinked. "If you're allowed…are you allowed?"

"Of course I'm allowed, I'm the Prince," Shen huffed, effectively covering up his immediate doubt over whether his parents would let him (but maybe there would be some advantages to barely seeing them, maybe they wouldn't notice-if the whole thing was something they'd be against if they knew; he was relatively confident the Soothsayer wouldn't protest).

"Okay then, see you later, Master."

"Bye," said Shen, waving to the wolf guard-to-be.

A/N: I found online that An means 'peace' in Chinese, and yes, that's a young Boss Wolf/Wolf Boss, but I found no way that I could call him that in-story at this point. For this fic 'verse, I'm saying that Boss Wolf/Wolf Boss is his rank/title, that he mostly goes by (since I say he's a little embarrassed by his real name, but also because I say that's just how it traditionally works out, going by their title). I chose An since I was looking for a Chinese name starting with 'A,' since I think Boss Wolf was like the wolf army's Alpha leader (before Lord Shen outranks him). And I settled on 'An' since I found its meaning ironic.

Master Thundering Rhino was barely in the movie, but I liked him, if only because he was voiced by Victor Garber! OMG, master spy Jack from "Alias" was back for a little bit as a kickass rhino. And there's interesting backstory info on him at Kung Fu Panda wiki (that story with Storming Ox was on the site) and now I kinda regret that he was killed off that quickly. Like, I'm still okay with the scene-love it actually-but it might've been nice if he got more scenes before showing how seriously powerful Shen's cannon was. So I want him to be a key posthumous character in this fic. And I find the idea of him teaching Shen interesting. And makes canon even more tragic. And, well, I kinda felt there was something there between them onscreen-like a little more tension than you'd first expect, there seemed to be familiarity/history between them, a familiar bitterness. And the thought they may've known each other before made sense to me because Master Thundering Rhino and the rest of the Kung Fu council had stewardship over Gongmen City (and its whole province, I say) when Shen was exiled; I feel like that responsibility implies prior service to Shen's parents and a trust between them, and if there's history between Thundering Rhino and Shen's parents, there's probably history between Thundering Rhino and Shen too.

Princess Gakoshi: Thanks, I'm glad you found it believable. Even if the setting and the characters and everything's awesomely fantastic, I still want the characters feelings and interactions and such to be believable. I want to build up to Shen's insanity in a way that makes sense.

Comrade: Thank you. I can't wait for the DVD either. And I'm totally okay with watching the film for a third time. XD

Chocolate Pencil: Thanks, I'm glad you picked up that I'm trying to have this story explore and develop what led to Shen's insanity. I enjoyed coming up with the "no more stories" line, it just really clicked, and was a nice early spark of what's gonna be Shen's future bitterness. And that's a very interesting point about past v. future, though I think the film has him consciously wanting future over past, the film also has the Soothsayer part of his ultimate problem is that he can't let go of the past, and that's screwing up his future.

Nayru: More sympathy points for Shen=success! But I'm hoping this chapter seemed nicer to him for you. I want to give him some bright spots (before everything really goes wrong).

WhySoSerious1992: The Soothsayer's key, so she'll show up frequently throughout, even though she didn't get much screentime this chapter. She is the BEST surrogate mother. :D

Jazzy Jazz: Thank you! I try to have this all relatively well thought out.

Black Raider: Don't know what else to say but thanks and hope you come back for and continue to be entertained!

katiegirl101199: Thank you, glad you like how I'm writing his childhood so far, it's an interesting experience.

samus18: Thank you, kinda pleased it was another tearjerker since I was going for sadness. I'm glad you really like Shen and Soothsayer parts, because I want it to be the core relationship to the fic, besides it exploring Shen's character. And thank you so much for thinking I have the Soothsayer in-character, because I've been worrying lately that I've been getting her wrong (like, not funny or snarky enough, but I don't know if she'd get into too much snark when Shen's that young). Yes, I want Soothsayer backstory, and if no one delivers it soon, I may have to try starting one. XD The image of her as a bounty hunter back in the day is a LULZY one—too LULZY, I think, I really was mostly joking, though it would be interesting to see if I could pull it off believably. Ohman, I loved getting the idea to have Shen try to make the Soothsayer's horn with the dominoes, and YES, that was a sign of affection on Shen's part for his nanny.

International-Wonderland: Thank you! Yes, I want to start when he was young and more innocent and pre-crazy, then build up to the insanity and breakdown, and have it sorta seem horribly inevitable—or more like developed in such a way that Shen's actions make sense, and even understandable, there's some sympathy, but ultimately it just can't be condoned (i.e. major freak out and panda massacre). So yeah, more insight into his life, more sympathy for him, and understanding of why he got so screwed up. And it never occurred to me before that Viper's backstory is similar to Shen's, but it makes sense to me. Yeah, my immediate reaction to the idea of Shen being kept out of sight or not (like Viper) was that Shen's parents didn't do much to keep him out of sight as kind of a symptom of their neglect. Left a comment on your fic; hope to see more of it. :)


	4. i didn't mean to

Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen

Summary: A collection of stories on the albino peacock of Gongmen City. (4. i didn't mean to: The cub that would be Boss Wolf learns that he must look after Shen, always.)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.

Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.

A/N: Thanks again everyone for all the reviews! I always love hearing what people have to say about the fic and knowing they liked it. Always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible. And I tried to individually reply to all your kind reviews at the bottom.

Part of the following is borrowed from the Digimon animated series' season 1. Chapter title references a Batman: The Animated series episode.

i didn't mean to

"I won't be long, dear," the Soothsayer told a young prince; the white peacock already looked mutinous and a little anxious. The old goat had just told him that she had to leave Gongmen City on a task with his father for a few days. His mother would handle affairs in the province's capitol with her husband away, but the Soothsayer conceded that she would be too busy often enough to properly look after Shen in the old goat's stead (doubly so, without Lord Baojia).

"I've asked Shang and Fang to look after you."

The Soothsayer grinned as Shen visibly perked up. Guardsmen Shang and Fang were An's parents.

Still, Shen felt tense when he bid farewell to the old goat and his father at the gate (his mother had already said her good-byes and was back up in the throne room, dealing with the council). This would be the first time the Soothsayer would be gone like this.

The old goat seemed to recognize his discomfort, since she whispered to him as he hugged her tight, "The time will go by quickly. Have fun with An." She kissed his forehead. "Love you, dear."

The Prince still reluctantly let go of the Soothsayer. He looked to his father-the man was so tall-hesitated, then ran forward and hugged his father too before he could convince himself to bow or just nod his head instead. It wasn't like this would be the first time he'd be apart from his father for a while. Even if they lived on the same grounds, even if he still got to play in the throne room while his father worked, it didn't seem like enough, it felt like they still barely saw each other. Father-and mother-they were both just so busy, everyone said they were busy, Shen knew they were busy (knew they didn't want to see him, were ashamed of a weak and doomed looking heir).

Shen felt his father stiffen, and the boy hoped he hadn't been too emotional and un-Princely, but-

Lord Baojia hugged him back with one wing.

"Be good. Study hard," was all he said, and soon Gongmen province's Lord left with his seer advisor.

###

The arrangement had Shen still sleep in the apartment he shared with the Soothsayer, but An's parents took shifts staying there with him at night and in the mornings, cooking him dinner and breakfast. In between that, when he wasn't training with Master Thundering Rhino or with other tutors, he stayed in the wolf guards' barracks. He'd been there before, to play with An, his other kin and pack members, and share sweet breads and other treats with them. And An had gone by his and the Soothsayer's apartment to play too, even when the prince fell ill and had to stay inside.

An and his family and pack, and Kung Fu training and lessons were distracting enough that the old goat's absence did not make the prince's stomach ache.

Yet still, Shen fell ill again-according to all the grown-ups around him. As he told them before, he'd had much worse before; therefore, he really wasn't that sick.

The physician disagreed; he insisted the opposite, that if it wasn't so severe now, it was all the more reason to rest and nip it in the bud before it could get worse. Shen still wasn't sure if he understood that reasoning. The boy was confined to bed all the same.

And so An's parents were to look after their sick prince, and it was Fang's turn-but something had just come up that demanded her attention.

"An," she told her son, calling him away from a game with his cousins. "Your father and his team need me and a couple of others to help round up conspirators against the city. I need you to look after Prince Shen while I'm gone. Is that understood?"

Fang believed she wouldn't be gone long, and recognized the rapport her son had with the prince, and figured the white peacock would be more amiable with An.

The wolf cub nodded, and followed his mother to Shen and the Soothsayer's apartment, where she explained today's set-up.

Shen shot An a funny look. "The Soothsayer will be back tonight," he reminded Fang, turning to her.

She shook her head; "But that is tonight. His majesty still needs someone to guard him during the day."

Shen kept his beak shut until she left, then asked An, "I thought you had a day off from training today? Weren't you gonna play ball with everyone else?"

"Yeah," grumbled An. Then when he noticed Shen still looking downcast, and reflected on what he said and how he said it, the cub stiffened and immediately said, "Hey, how about your dominoes, huh? Those were fun."

The white peacock shook his head. "I'm okay, really. I don't need to be looked after." Shen picked up a scroll by his bed. "You should go out and play."

The younger boy unfurled the scroll and tried to read, and though An recognized the scroll as one filled with some of Shen's favorite stories, his prince still looked downcast.

But the white peacock did look okay, as he insisted. An had seen him get sick worse, too.

"If you're really okay, then you can come out and play with us, too."

Shen stared at An, then tossed his scroll away and began to scramble out of bed. The prince added, "And we'll just have to be sneaky, so no grown-ups will notice and your mom will never know."

The two boys crept out of the apartment, carefully keeping an eye out for other guards and servants and any other adults.

When they met up with An's cousins, the other cubs blinked at him.

"You were just getting Prince Shen?" One of the girls, Jie, asked.

"Um, yeah," An replied. It was a half-true, or full-true now, it just all ended up that way, despite what his mother wanted. Actually-

"But don't tell anyone he's here," An added quickly.

"Why?" Jie asked again, narrowing her eyes, suspicious.

"Well, we sorta told An's mother we'd stay here," Shen began, straightening up and trying to look authoritative (even though he was the smallest among them), "since she's worried about me being too sick, but I'm really okay. And what she-"

"-or dad," added An warily, his old man's reaction should he find out just occurring to him.

"-or anyone else doesn't know won't bother them," Shen finished, feeling they'd put up an ironclad argument.

Jie just shrugged and kicked the ball to An.

They divided into teams and were set on kicking the ball past each of their 'guardians' and into their makeshift goals. Keeping score was an afterthought quickly dismissed. Things were going well, their teams were tied, Shen had the ball-which rolled by An at a drunken angle.

The cub blinked, and glanced back, to where the prince had been passed the ball; "Shen-"

He stopped; the peacock child was on the ground.

Without thinking, An rushed over and picked Shen up, surprising himself with how easy it was; the prince was a light weight. Shen coughed, but his eyes remained closed. An felt the younger boy's impossible heat through his fur. He ran off toward the palace, and so did Jie and the others-they dashed ahead, working as one and focused, as they'd been trained. Jie and the others reached an antelope guard's attention first, and An handed Shen over to the antelope. An followed the guard to the physician.

The other cubs had stayed behind, Jie insisting they'd only crowd the physician.

Once Shen was back inside the apartment with the physician, An waited outside, and it was then he started to think. He slumped down the wall and curled up into a ball, terrified and hoping Shen would be all right.

The cub wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he snapped to attention at the sound of paw prints.

It was his parents, and An stood up, tail and ears lowered.

Immediately his mother slapped him. The cub stumbled, holding his clawed cheek and trying not to whimper or let his eyes water.

"_What were you thinking-were you even thinking-you knew he was sick, I told you_-!"

Shang laid a calm paw on his wife's shoulder, whispered something in her ear.

The whole family turned at the sound of hooves. The Soothsayer immediately passed them without a glance and entered the apartment.

An closed his eyes, sniffling. That had been worse than the slap.

###

No, this was worse:

"An, you can see Shen now, he's well enough." The Soothsayer's voice held no trace of accusation or hurt.

His ears and tail seemed to be perpetually lowered now; his mother had bandaged the slash on his cheek. But An nodded silently all the same, and trotted into the apartment after the old goat. She gave the boys some privacy, quietly making tea in the kitchen.

An hadn't practiced anything. The cub knew what he wanted to say, but had no coherent plan for wording. Anything he had at all was thrown out the window when Shen spotted him and said, flustered and in a small voice:

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble with your mom and dad, and that I can't kick the ball very well, and get sick all the time…you'll probably never want to play with me again..."

Shen closed his eyes and slumped in bed, then tried to sit up. An immediately went forward and gently helped him up. The wolf cub's mouth was very dry and his chest hurt.

"Tea, children," the Soothsayer said, bringing over a tray.

They all quietly drank.

A/N: Again, a lot of the above references a Digimon episode, "My Sister's Keeper"—a boy takes his sick sister out to play ball, the sister's illness gets worse, and the boy is slapped by his mother (in sheer panic and fear) once his sister's admitted into the hospital, and when she comes out she apologizes for not being able to kick the ball right and is certain her brother will never want to play with her again because of that (though that episode makes it more explicit that the sister almost died). I thought that would fit this fanfic and add another level to Boss Wolf's/An's devotion to Shen (up to a point).

WhySoSerious1992: Yes, the Wolf Boss is pretty cool. It was always the plan to bring him in, since I find his on-screen and off-screen relationship (see the Kung Fu Panda wiki) with Shen interesting.

VulpineSnow: Well, I'm starting out with Shen from birth to when he's very little, and I don't think he'd be cruel at that point. But I hope to develop him so that he believably grows cruel. Ooh, is your AU oneshot about Shen too?

AlienStars: I'm glad you appreciate the detail and heart wrenching moments I try to put in this. Hopefully I can actually complete this fic. All your support and enjoyment helps with that.

Princess Gakoshi: Thanks for your good (and very relevant) points about the implications of Kung Fu training with Shen and everything else. Glad you liked how the last chapter worked out and Boss Wolf's introduction.

samus18: Thank you. Admittedly, I have a few fanfics that have just stopped at one or two chapters, but so far it's not happening to this one, and hopefully I can end it the way it's playing out in my head. Glad you liked Master Thundering Rhino teaching Shen (I really liked adding that to the fic) and young Wolf Boss. I'm glad you think Shen rings true as a child, with his wonder at the world and sheer determination (he's definitely determined as an adult in canon, though the wonder may be a bit trampled, though I think with his mechanical inventiveness he still has to retain some of it, though that's mostly overshadowed by the hate, cruelty, insanity and depression).

Jazzy Jazz: Glad you like 'An,' and that you could picture the scene. I try to picture the scene in my head too.

Comrade: Glad you liked the first meeting between Shen and Wolf Boss/An. And I like long messages/comments/reviews…but weirdly, part of your comment seems missing now? I can't find all of it on my end when I look at the reviews.

Black Raider: Glad you liked the first meeting between Boss Wolf and Shen too, and that you agreed with the irony in 'An' for Boss Wolf. Hmmm, I don't know if I'll continue the story to Shen's side of the story in the movie (I was sort of starting to think of it for a separate fic though—but maybe it would be better as a part of this?). But I definitely want the last chapter to be a hypothetical post-KFP 2 story to conclude the whole fic.

International-Wonderland: Like a lot of Shen's backstory, a lot of the wolves' own backstory was apparently left out of the movie. From Kung Fu Panda wiki: "The Wolf Boss, along with his pack of wolf brothers and sisters, were once guards in Gongmen City's royal palace. The only member of the royal family ever to befriend the wolves was Shen — the frail, albino heir to Gongmen City's throne. Shen fed them, played with them, and treated them like family. It was then that the Wolf Boss swore his allegiance to the young prince.

Boss Wolf's loyalty to Shen went as far as willingly helping the young lord wipe out an innocent farming village of pandas. Boss Wolf took a savage part in the massacre, as when he tried to slay an innocent panda cub. The child's father saved his son's life, whacking Boss Wolf in the face with his hammer and permanently scarring his left eye. Boss Wolf managed to outwit the farmer and he, along with other wolves and Shen gave chase to the farmer's family. It is presumed Boss Wolf may have been the one who killed Po's Mother, if not then Shen. Once the attack was made known to Shen's parents, Boss Wolf, along with his pack, was banished alongside his master."

I'm glad you picked up on the hints of Shen's growing confidence. A sneaky little Shen roaming the palace to see An is such a cute image. Hopefully I'll have Shen's plumage be long-ish soon in the fic; wee Shen's adorable, but I'm getting excited over the prospect of writing him older. Ohman, I have to find that vid, it sounds funny and inspiring. Oh yeah, peacocks totally have that grand plumage to attract a mate; I knew that beforehand, and was really impressed they took that kind of mating technique and turned into a defensive technique and into something even more useful. Like I've read in the art book and other places, Shen uses his great plumage like a matador or someone with a combat fan.

Katiegirl101199: I'm so glad you think it's plausible, I try to make it seem like it could've happened. I'm pleased you like the twist with Thundering Rhino, and that you agree it makes canon more tragic, and that they probably did have a past, given that there was some tension.


	5. beyond the wall

Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen

Summary: A collection of stories on the albino peacock of Gongmen City. (5. beyond the wall: The Soothsayer takes a young Shen to Gongmen City and out of the palace for the first time.)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.

Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.

A/N: Thanks again everyone for all the reviews! I always love hearing what people have to say about the fic and knowing they liked it.

Always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible.

I'm gonna try to individually reply to all your kind reviews with 's handy PM feature (except for users not signed in, since that feature's not available with them).

Also, I started a new Shen-centric KFP fic, "Change the Fate's Design," if anyone wants to check it out and leave a review. It should be in continuity with this fic (up to a point).

beyond the wall

Shen had not only got An and himself and probably the other wolf cubs in trouble for refusing to rest, but the prince had also missed his birthday on account of sleeping off another sick bout in bed. But as soon as he was better, and after the Soothsayer had gently lectured him about obeying grown-ups, the old goat gave him his surprise.

"Five years old, and you haven't even been to the city yet-"

"We're going?" The boy asked, his small tail feathers flaring out in pleased surprise.

The Soothsayer chuckled; "Of course, dear."

But before they left, the Soothsayer also showed him the birthday gift An had left him.

The old goat presented him with the wooden boomerang. "You're not touching this until An's showed you how to use it and Master Thundering Rhino approves."

Shen stared, disbelieving. "But that's An's _favorite_."

"Very generous of him then," was all the Soothsayer said.

As they headed out, Shen said, "An told me all about the city."

"Did he now?"

"Uh huh, he told me what rickshaws were and to watch out for them 'cause they went really fast and could knock you right over-"

And the Prince went on and on about what the older wolf cub told him about Gongmen City, his nanny sharing the occasional remark, wry or common.

As they went down the steps and approached the gate, her face grew serious and the boy slowed down a little, watching her. "You'll see new and different things in the city, dear; but some people will act the same with you as in the palace, particularly like new servants-"

"Oh, I'm used to getting stared at, Nana," Shen reassured her, given that he was five now and far older, and didn't like it when she worried.

She smiled, though the boy noticed it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I suppose you are," the Soothsayer replied.

When the gates opened, Shen tried to rush ahead, but the old goat's grip was firm on his wing. "You have to hold my hand at all times, unless I say otherwise, my Prince; Gongmen City is a big place, to put it mildly."

Shen soon understood what she meant. He had seen the city from the top of the throne room of course, saw how far it stretched and the stacked buildings and the crisscrossing streets, but it was so different walking down those streets and with those buildings towering over him, close enough where he could read their signs and count the lanterns strung between them. And with everyone bustling around-it was overwhelming, intoxicating, all the new sights and sounds and smells, Shen didn't know where to look first, veritably spinning around to see everything.

"Easy, Shen; my arm can't twist that far or fast, and you'll get dizzy," the Soothsayer said as she led him to a bakery for breakfast, saying he'd like the place.

The City was so new and interesting; Shen was too focused on it, and didn't really notice people's stares as they headed to the bakery. He eagerly pointed the racing rickshaws out to the Soothsayer, and practically yanked on her arm when one actually crashed. He hadn't seen all of it, just heard shouts and turned just in time to see the wreckage.

"I have to tell An, he's never seen that happen before!"

"Oh really?" The old goat asked, and refrained from revealing she'd watched the rickshaw crash, and knew why-its driver had noticed his city and province's sole albino heir, and couldn't stop gaping.

"Uh huh, he would've told me if he had!" Shen stared as the Soothsayer stopped before a small building crowded inside. "Is this it?"

"Yes, dear."

"It smells good."

"Trust your scent, it can be the best judge of character," and the Soothsayer said it so sagely that Shen snickered as she smirked.

Shen's self-consciousness returned when they entered the building, closed quarters with not much else to turn to. The other customers quieted down, staring; they retreated so that he and the Soothsayer could walk immediately up to the counter. The old goat led him forward calmly, as if they had waited in line and it was rightly their turn next, and Shen tried to duplicate her calm. He was five now and a Prince, he couldn't let this get to him; the boy tried to block out the whispers, but one little girl's was particularly loud, asking why everyone was acting so funny (and Shen privately agreed with that other child's incredulity, the whole thing was stupid).

"Hello there, Mao," the Soothsayer greeted one of the pig bakers.

"Oh, h-hi there, Miss Soothsayer Ma'am," the pig greeted back, trying not to stare at the Prince, who also avoided his eye, focusing on all the breads and treats on the shelves.

The Soothsayer made her recommendations to Shen, and asked if there was anything that caught his eye. The two eventually agreed to purchase a mix of sun cakes and cream buns, along with two bottles of juice. They left the bakery and its sweet scent and bevy of gawking customers and bakers, sitting on some stone steps and eating, just as Shen had seen some other people do before.

"Slow down, you'll choke," the Soothsayer reminded the boy lightly as he gobbled down his food.

"It'sreallygoodNana-"

"Don't chew with your beak full." Shen swallowed, and reached for another cream bun, but the old goat handed him his bottle instead. "Drink some more first, dear; you need to wash it all down-don't chug it down-"

The Soothsayer rolled her eyes, but smiled fondly as the boy put the bottle down and tore into another cream bun.

"So much for etiquette lessons," she murmured softly.

Shen made sure to swallow before he responded. "I told you they're boring. And, um, tedious-that's the word, right?"

"Yes it is-on both counts," the Soothsayer said, nibbling on another sun cake.

When they were done, Shen asked the Soothsayer if they could see the Kung Fu Academy Master Thundering Rhino talked about.

"He's there today too, right?"

"Yes he is," the old goat nodded. "We'll visit him."

On the way, the Soothsayer caught Shen watching the racing rickshaws again.

"Would my Prince like to ride one?"

The boy's response was to immediately drag her toward one that was dropping off a passenger.

But Shen ducked his head at the antelope driver who gawked, who didn't stop until the Soothsayer snapped her hooves in front of his face and asked that he take them to the alley the Kung Fu Academy was on.

Even with his royal passenger, the driver sped forward. Shen was delighted.

"Can he go faster-?"

"No."

"But, Nana-"

"No-look, we're halfway there."

Still the white peacock turned around as much as he could in his seat to watch everything whip by, even with the Soothsayer's restraining grip. But Shen instantly ducked down at another rickshaw crash, finally realizing the drivers had been watching him and taken their eyes off the road.

"Oh," he said in a very small voice, slumping down further in his seat.

"Straighten up now," the Soothsayer ordered, then said more softly, "It's just a lack of discipline on their part, dear; and they've never seen their prince before."

"I've never been to the city before," the Prince huffed, staring straight ahead and into the back of the antelope driver's head.

The Soothsayer wrapped an arm around him, leaning her chin on his head. Her beard dangled over the boy's face, and he blew at it. "How do you like the city so far?"

Shen played a little with her beard, leaned into her half-armed hug. "It's-"

He stopped and jerked out of her embrace when the driver stopped, jumping down.

"This is it?" The boy asked eagerly, looking the building up and down.

"It would be a poor driver who brought us to the wrong place," the Soothsayer told him, chuckling. Said driver looked a bit chagrined, but the old goat just calmly shook her head at him, smirking, and paid him her coin and with her thanks.

Shen ran ahead into the shop, but stopped inside, staring. There were shelves all around filled with bottles, that either had liquids or herbs or a mix of both, or something else entirely, and other odd looking things, with weird scents and smoke trails curling in the air. At the back was a counter with another filled shelf behind it, someone bustling around in between, out of sight. But the boy realized it was sort of like their apartment back home; the Soothsayer kept strange things too, along with her incense, her herbs and bottles and other curios, not to mention all the medicinal materials for him, either by her own suggestion or the physician's recommendation. Speaking of the physician, this place was like his quarters too, actually. But Shen knew this place was somehow more than the physician's space and the apartment he shared with the Soothsayer-it was as if it took everything from both places and combined them, only to multiply exponentially.

"Are you sure it's the right place?" Shen asked again, looking back up at the Soothsayer.

"There's more than meets the eye," the old goat told him, walking ahead. "Or more than one level to a building."

"Oh, right," Shen replied, embarrassed and feeling dense. He followed after her, missing the small amused smile on the goat's face.

"Now what does this place remind you of, dear?"

Not for the first time Shen wondered if the Soothsayer could also read minds, right here in the present.

"Like our place, and the physician's-"

"So that would make it?..."

"…a medicine shop?"

"Yes, how can I help you?" said the figure at the counter, popping back up with a red bottle in hand.

Shen jumped, his tail feathers flaring up. The counter's figure had been fast-and it was someone white, like him, but furry and with large ears, but not a rabbit. It was a rat, with protruding teeth and a beard like Nana-whom he presumably knew, since he smiled when he caught her eye and bowed to her slightly.

"Ah, what brings you here today? Need anything else for your boy?"

"'He's here, Xu," the Soothsayer said, nodding her head to below the counter.

The rat looked down at him, and Shen shyly went behind the Soothsayer's back a little.

"Ah, so he is." His bow to the white peacock was deeper. "A pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Prince Shen."

"Thank you, the pleasure is mine," Shen recited one of the phrases he learned, hoping it was adequate for the shopkeeper.

The rat chuckled. "You do well in your etiquette lessons, hmm?"

"Not really," Shen answered, and stared when the rat full out laughed. The boy shuffled his talons; it was true, though.

"Now Xu, don't make fun," the Soothsayer said, and Shen looked up at her, confused.

"But you make fun," he reminded her, frowning.

"Yes, but I've known you since you were an infant."

"How long's it been, then?" The rat asked, kneeling behind the counter again, looking for something. "How old are you now?"

"I turned five last week," Shen told him, stretching up on his talons, but he barely reached the counter and could not see what the rat was doing.

"Well, Happy Birthday," Xu said, popping back up with some candies.

Shen eagerly grabbed for them, but the Soothsayer stilled his wing, and took the candies instead, pocketing them in her satchel. "You can have them later."

"Spoil his appetite?"

"We just came from the bakery." The rat nodded, looking at them over his shoulder as he organized some bottles behind him. "Shen wanted to see the academy and Master Thundering Rhino."

"Ah, you came at the right time-some students should be sparring in the ring right now-" and the rat nodded to the side, the entrance to stairs.

Shen immediately dashed for it-

"Thank Xu for the candy," the Soothsayer said.

"Thank you, Xu!" The boy kept going-

"Wait for me."

Shen stopped, trying to look patient. The Soothsayer didn't take long thanking and saying good-bye to Xu, and soon she held Shen's wing and let him lead her down the steps.

She whispered to him as the sounds of fighting reached them, "Remember to be especially quiet and respectful-"

Shen nodded, and they stepped out onto a landing, walking to one part of the balcony that was empty. Shen climbed up on the banister to see, and the Soothsayer laid a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder. They looked down, and saw a boar and lynx dueling each other.

The boy was instantly mesmerized-

"Hello Prince Shen; Soothsayer," and the boy turned to find Master Thundering Rhino joining them at the banister.

The Soothsayer and Shen greeted the Kung Fu master back, but a second later the boy was absorbed in the fight below again.

Thundering Rhino regarded Shen, leaning against the banister on the other side of the boy.

"The aim of the exercise here is to throw the opponent out of the chalk circle," and Thundering Rhino nodded to the white boundary below. "Who do you think will win, Prince?"

Eyes still on the fight, Shen immediately answered, "The boar. He's bigger."

"That he is," Thundering Rhino conceded, and said nothing more as the students below sparred.

In the end, the lynx won.

As the students bowed to each other and the next sparring match was set up, Thundering Rhino turned to Shen. "Why did she win?"

The boy furrowed his brow, trying to figure out what he saw and trying to pick the best words. "The lynx…she, um, she ducked his punch…but at the same time she grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder…but how, he was bigger, heavier-wasn't he?"

"Yes, he was."

Shen folded his wings on the banister, resting his head against them, thinking hard and remembering. "But his punch…his punch kept going even though it didn't hit anything, so that would've made it easier for her to throw him, if s-she kept going in the punch's direction?"

Thundering Rhino nodded at the boy, smiling. "Yes, she used her opponent's own strength and speed against him. That's a way for a smaller warrior to get the upper hand."

"Does it always work?"

"In the heat of battle, there are few absolutes when it comes to technique. You must always expect the unexpected." Thundering Rhino's eyes went to the ring again, and Shen perked up, watching a pair of smaller rhinos enter the ring. "But that line of strategy is invaluable, and can open many options to you."

Shen and Thundering Rhino continued observing the student matches, the Kung Fu master quizzing the young prince on each one when the winner was declared.

"When can I be down there?" The boy asked Thundering Rhino eagerly, once the Soothsayer said it was time for lunch and began to guide him back up the stairs.

"Once you've learned the basics," was the only answer Master Thundering Rhino gave. Shen remembered to bow and thank the rhino; the Soothsayer did the same. Then the two went up the stairs, said thank you and good bye to Xu again, and left, the Soothsayer hailing another rickshaw.

"We don't want to be late."

"For what?" Shen asked a little anxiously, immediately wondering if there was a lesson today he'd forgotten about. But no, his parents had promised him the day off for his birthday; that surely still stood even though he'd gotten sick over it, he was having it now-

"You'll see, dear," the Soothsayer answered, and Shen calmed down. He tried to figure out the surprise from the directions the old goat gave the driver, but it was useless, even An's information about the city didn't give him any clues (the old goat had told him about it before too).

The rickshaw halted at one of the town squares, where children and their parents crowded around a shadow play being set up.

The Prince was delighted. He leapt out and quickly paced while the Soothsayer paid the driver, then dragged her to the show area.

"Thankyouthankyou-"

The old goat smiled; "You're very welcome, dear."

Shen loved shadow plays, watching the puppets' adventures. He couldn't quite remember when he first saw them, if it was for an earlier birthday or something else-though the boy definitely knew it happened for his last birthday-but his parents had invited shadow show troupes to the palace before, and he got to watch them all. And after his last birthday's performance, he'd requested an audience with the troupe to ask how they did it, and they kindly showed him, and afterward he'd worked on making his own puppets and stage and figuring out the lighting. He loved putting it together, making it all work. Shen had tried to present his play to his parents and the Soothsayer together, but the time was never right, mother and father were always so busy. Finally he couldn't wait any longer and just showed it to the Soothsayer. She enjoyed it, told him she was proud, and Shen basked in that, though he did admit to her afterward that it was all kind of random and that he should write more of a plot to it next time. The boy had been intent on it all working, having action, he hadn't really thought of what the action would mean-so his puppets had performed randomly without rhyme or reason, no cause and effect in place (his parents probably would've been bored by it).

As Shen looked for the best place to watch the shadow play in the city, he realized he hadn't done that yet, and now he had lessons to contend with. But he should find time to do it, it was something he'd told the Soothsayer he would, and she said she'd look forward to it (and he still wanted to show his parents).

The Prince was very particular-he wanted to see, but he also wanted to stick to the edges of the crowd, especially since no one had noticed him yet-

"Mama, is that the Pr-?"

"Hush, dear!"

Shen hid his face in the Soothsayer's skirt, muffling his groan. The city was fun, but tiring too, at least its people were, and only with certain behaviors.

The Soothsayer patted his shoulder; "Here we go, this should be fine."

And the old goat had found a nice spot, even if children and their parents already near it retreated a bit to give them space, but Shen was better able to ignore them if he just focused on the stage.

As the musicians started their music and the performers manipulated their puppets, Shen watched, absorbed in the unfolding story of Sun Wukong, a monkey born from rock that rebelled against heaven, only to be buried under a mountain for his trouble. The Prince felt relieved when the monkey warrior bargained for his freedom by offering his services to a travelling monk on his grand journey.

Shen was mesmerized by the monkey puppet's swiftness and its whirling staff, his imagination exaggerating the action in his head long afterward.

"I want to learn how to use a staff."

The Soothsayer looked down at the boy, as they walked back to the palace.

The old goat thought about it, then nodded her head; "It would suit you."

"You really think so?" Shen asked, excited.

The Soothsayer chuckled. "Now when have I ever led you astray, dear?" The Prince slowly nodded, not having a good answer to that and knowing she had a point. "But I do not know if Master Thundering Rhino will immediately teach you how to use one."

"I can wait," Shen decided, determined. "But I still want to learn _now_," he added in a rush. "I'll just ask him next time and see what he says."

As they entered the palace gates, the Soothsayer told him they would return to the apartment first and clean up, and he would dress in more formal clothes for dinner with his parents.

"Really?" And Shen's question of reassurance was a bit more reasonable this time. His parents had invited the shadow show troupe for his birthday last year, yes-but they couldn't watch with him or have a dinner with him or anything with him at all since there had been a border skirmish before with a war lord and they'd been embroiled in dealing with that conflict. By the time it passed, Shen had long grown used to being four and had mostly buried any real desire for his parents to actually be there for his birthday celebration, reminding himself they had arranged the fun shadow play for him (even if they couldn't find the time to watch the one he devised himself).

And-the boy frowned inwardly. He couldn't remember the birthdays before, but he was probably too young. The Soothsayer had told him that for his third birthday they'd taken him on a boat ride across one of the larger lakes in the palace gardens after having breakfast with him, but he couldn't remember that.

"Yes, dear," the Soothsayer answered, her voice a little too light and sounding funny to Shen.

The boy quickly washed and dressed, and waited impatiently for the Soothsayer to check him over. Before he gave into the urge to roll his eyes, the Soothsayer said he looked handsome and then they were off. The old goat led him to someplace not far at all, to one of the dining halls on the ground floor.

The Soothsayer bowed to mother and father at the table (laid down with plenty of Shen's favorites) and turned to leave.

"Enjoy, my Prince."

"You're not staying?" The boy asked, bewildered.

The old goat shook her head. "You need time alone with your parents, my dear." Then she smirked; "And I need time to have a game of Pai Sho with Qin, win back some of my earnings..."

And she left, telling him she would come to escort him back to their apartment after dinner.

Which was great. They didn't mention how disobeying his elders got him sick enough to miss his proper birthday. Shen told his parents all about his day in Gongmen City.

"-and I want to learn staff work like Sun Wukong too-"

"Your mother's quite proficient at that," Lord Baojia said, sipping at his wine.

The prince turned eagerly to her, asking, "Could you show me how, please-?"

"Someday, dear," she said, filling his bowl with more rice. "Master Thundering Rhino tells us that you're doing well in your lessons with him."

Shen tried to restrain his joy in a very docile, pleased, "Thank you." Then he asked his parents what they did today.

He knew as they answered that they were editing their response, focusing on what would hold the interest of a five-year-old for at least a little while. The boy supposed it was for the best. His father still let him in the throne room, playing at his talons with his blocks and other toys, while he spoke with his advisers, soldiers, council members, servants and all other manner of people, whether they were local to the court or more from the city or even farther out in the province, or even from someplace outside it-and often enough all the grown-up talk involved in running and protecting Gongmen Province was dreadfully boring to Shen, talk that droned on over his head, especially over matters of the treasury and budget or any other intangibles.

Fights, now those were tangible to his young mind, and his parents answered seriously about those (more border skirmishes with other clans), but didn't spend too much time on them.

Shen wondered if the Soothsayer taught his father mind reading, for Lord Baojia said, "I know much of what goes in the throne room flies over your head, son." His father's tone was not unkind, but he was choosing his words very carefully. "But if you would start observing a little bit more-"

"I can't play anymore?"

Lord Baojia shook his head. "Of course not. I'll let you know on what days you should try to pay attention, since I'll ask you questions afterward about what went on."

Shen nodded, unsure. His father gave a small smile. "I found that watching my father actually work in the throne room and apply my tutors' lessons was more helpful and interesting than recitations."

"You didn't like your lessons either?" Shen asked, looking to his mother as well.

Lady Fen laughed. "I'm not sure of anyone who really does."

Shen conceded, "I like math and science; art, too."

"And Kung Fu," his mother reminded him, sipping at her own glass of wine.

"Uh huh."

"It's a long tradition, you know," his father said, refilling his son's cup with juice. "Going all the way back to when our ancestors united the clan..."

And Shen listened to another war story, followed by a softer story about Qi Xi's love that the boy didn't mind too much since his eyes were starting to droop along with how full his stomach was growing. But Shen admitted the story was actually interesting; it was all about the creation of some star patterns, a runaway princess from the heavens who was bored with courtly life and looking for adventure, company...

"Is my Prince ready for bed?" The Soothsayer asked, opening the door.

"He is," his parents said, while Shen mumbled, "'m not."

But the boy leaned against the old goat as she took him back to their apartment (though not before his parents had hugged him good night).

"Did you have a good birthday?" The Soothsayer whispered to her child.

"The best." Shen yawned. "Did you win?"

The old goat laughed. "Yes, Qin was not pleased; he wants a rematch, later..."

In the apartment, it seemed it didn't take long to dress in his pajamas and wash up before the Soothsayer tucked him into bed, kiss his forehead and wish him good night.

###

The boy slept. Turned in bed. He heard his nanny, her voice low and sounding tense. There was another tense voice. A door creak open. The sound of her hooves retreating.

Shen woke up, tried to get back to sleep. He furrowed into his bed. Frustrated, the boy raised his head.

Someone was staring at him from across the room. Bright gold eyes.

It happened very fast-those eyes rushed him, and the boy bundled up his blankets and pillows in front of him protectively, ducking and scrambling back. Shen was knocked over still, he felt the wind knocked out of him, felt something hard-it snagged on the bundled covering of blankets and pillows, but it still-but not deeply, it didn't feel deep-the attacker hissed as something else crashed into him, and then tossed him away, a horn slipping out of his side-and then the Soothsayer, her horn tipped in red, was carrying Shen away as wolf guards streaked by her and fell upon the figure with the gold eyes, his side leaking. Shen saw other dark, bright-eyed figures, but the wolves fought them off too.

Shen blinked. He felt funny. Yet he knew this wasn't a dream.

The Soothsayer tore at her wrappings and bundled them around Shen. The boy glanced down. Saw red bleed through. He coughed out red too.

Shen laid his head against the old goat's shoulder. She reminded him, "Stay awake, my Prince."

His eyes still shut, and when he opened them he was laid out, the Soothsayer and the physician and other nurses surrounding him. Shen wasn't sure if he'd passed out or if all time had run far away.

The boy felt drained. As if everything had spilled out of him. The Soothsayer rubbed a hoof over his forehead. "Open your beak." He obeyed, and the old goat pressed tightly wound cloth in between. "Bite down." He did. She held him down, other nurses helping her.

Shen's eyes widened at the flash of a needle in the physician's hoof hands and-his talons kicked and his whole body flinched despite the Soothsayer and the others restraining him. They got a more solid grip on him. Shen bit down hard on the cloth, the scream locked in his throat. The needle went in and out like fire-Shen squeezed his eyes shut. They were wet. Soon they rolled up into his skull.

The Prince smelled incense, saw its smoke curl in the air. After a while the needle was gone and bandages were wrapped quickly and tightly around his chest, his stomach. The boy felt numb, adrift. His eyes half-lidded.

"'m sleepy, Nana."

The old goat's breath came out ragged. But her hoof on his shoulder was firm.

"It's all right to sleep now, dear."

Shen closed his eyes, and returned to the dark.

A/N: "The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2" mentioned how the jail for Masters Croc and Storming Ox was the Kung Fu Academy before. They also said that in an earlier, abandoned story concept where the practice of Kung Fu was outlawed, the Kung Fu Academy became more like a secret Fight Club, with a medicine shop front. I was inspired to include the medicine shop, thinking that having one so close to a Kung Fu Academy would also be useful. Xu is an approximation of the character seating at the counter in the medicine shop illustration from the book.

Sun Wukong and Qi Xi are real Chinese legends.

Pai Sho is just a reference to one of my favorite shows, the original animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

Shadow puppet play is of course a reference/tie-in to KFP2 opening and credits.

Jazzy Jaz: Thanks, glad you found it cute. More Shen fic is always good, I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Will you write under the same name?

Arecus. Conberma: Thanks! And yeah, the last is a very different reference to a scene in Digimon's first series, the one with Tai and his sister playing soccer (it's explained more in that chapter's A/N). I just thought the reference would really work with this.

Comrade: Thank you! This fic still continues, I want to go up to when he's an adult. Hee, I'm glad you find the grammar works. Yeah, An's story is a little integrated into Shen's, but it's still mostly Shen's. That's a good point about the minimum swearing/cursing makes it fit movie canon more. But I had thought more of how this is Shen's childhood, I didn't think there'd be a lot of cursing. And even when he's older, I don't think he himself will curse that much, if at all—but he'll probably hear it more. I just have Wolf Boss pegged as sorta foul-mouthed when he's older (and if movie canon would let him), though I may have to think more on that.

I'm not sure who this is (there's no name at all on this review): "Aw, cute chapter. And yes, it is... More of notes and flamebait from a plot bunnie that would not leave me, though. Not as good as this story." –but thanks (and what's your fic?)


	6. fragmented and disjointed

Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen

Summary: A collection of stories on the albino peacock of Gongmen City. 6. fragmented and disjointed: Young Shen recovers (again).

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.

Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.

A/N: Thanks again everyone for all the reviews! I always love hearing what people have to say about the fic and knowing they liked it, and what they specifically liked too.

Always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible.

I'm gonna try to individually reply to all your kind reviews with 's handy PM feature (except for users not signed in, since that feature's not available with them—those responses are at the bottom here).

Also, I started a new Shen-centric KFP fic, "Change the Fate's Design," if anyone wants to check it out and leave a review. It should be in continuity with this fic (up to a point).

fragmented and disjointed

The Soothsayer made him eat lots and lots of bowls of rice. And soup. Noodles, vegetables. Shen felt like he was being fattened up for something.

The boy was made to consume so many medicines and herbs, and incense was constantly burning now, he wondered if he'd been poisoned.

(He later overheard the physician thank the gods the blade hadn't been poisoned.)

Shen also overheard the nurses, his eyes again shut and trying to rest, but feigning sleep all the same.

"…it was one of the noble peacock families that hired them?"

"Yes, one of the merchants, I think, and Lord Baojia and Lady Fen had them executed along with the assassins and that treacherous-"

"What of their children-?"

"Some of them are full-grown, you know. They've taken the younger ones in."

The prince kept his eyes shut, though they squeezed tighter, and a wing fisted into his pillow.

"Is this a warning?"

"What do you think, dum dum?"

"W-what will they do when illness finally takes him-?"

"What are you-never mind, you silly twit-"

"But-"

"Nothing, nothing will happen-at any rate, the prince won't be dropping dead today."

"But the physician says he'll eventually-"

"Enough, it's time we cleaned his bandages-"

Shen made sure to sound sufficiently sleepy, mumbling his words and acting grumpy, as if he hadn't enough rest when they changed his bandages. Anything to hide the sudden ache in his stomach and head.

###

Lord Baojia and Lady Fen, when they spied their son in the hospital bed, sinking into his pillows and blankets and the white bandages a rough contrast with his sickeningly white feathers, thought him still too young.

But they sat with Shen, and explained that they had dangerous enemies, who would harm him, especially to stop him from taking the throne when he was older. At the moment, they couldn't figure out how to explain to their five-year-old that others in power (but second to them), who'd expected him to die shortly after hatching once they heard his poor prognosis, had in little and large ways failed to hide their disappointment when he held on.

They did tell him that the culprits were taken care of and he was safe now.

Baojia and Fen also couldn't figure out how they should specify that by 'taken care of,' they meant permanently. Or how they should make explicit that this may not be the last attempt on his life.

The older blue peacocks weren't sure of what to make of their son's silence. He didn't ask any questions, just absorbed the information. The boy would shoot them a few odd glances, but nothing came of it.

###

Shen learned that one of the servants had called for the Soothsayer, asking for her help that night, told her it was an emergency but couldn't explain further. He just needed her right away, he had to show her.

She'd gone, the servant had seemed so worried, so insistent, and she thought it wouldn't take long. But when one of the wolf guards had passed and the servant looked beyond anxious, the old goat had gone back, seized by a sudden gut feeling, either a spark of her sometimes still unpredictable seer ability or something else entirely. The Soothsayer had hailed the passing guard, who'd called on his comrades and had a few of them take the suspicious servant into custody while they followed the surprisingly swift goat back to the apartment.

After the Soothsayer fled with Shen and had the boy treated, the wolves had interrogated the servant, who proved to be hired by the assassins to provide a distraction. He too was executed.

###

The Soothsayer stayed by Shen's side.

But even his parents were there.

Eventually.

They'd work long into the night, but would come and stay with him afterward, even if he was already asleep and would only see them in the morning-and even that was occasional, since they'd rise earlier than he to work again. And so when they joined him after he'd fallen asleep and left before he woke up-those were surreal times were the Soothsayer reassured him they slept at his side, even though he completely missed them. He much preferred it when they'd come when he was awake both times or even once to see them. The boy had no doubts about the truth then.

An visited him a lot too. The first time he came, the wolf cub struggled to make his way past the awkwardness and staring at the bandages, to the safer topic of asking how the prince's birthday went. And it was then Shen was reminded to thank An.

"But how come you gave me your boomerang? You said it was your favorite, and one of your older cousins got it for you-"

The older wolf cub had shrugged, looking away and finding the corner of the hospital room very interesting.

"It's your-er, was your birthday, I was supposed to get you somethin'-"

"But that-?"

"Don't you like it?"

Shen nodded.

Before he could say anything else, An pressed forward, "Wait 'til I show you how to use it, Master Thundering Rhino's gonna be impressed-"

Finally the wolf cub reminded the prince to tell him about his birthday and his trip to the city, which Shen finally complied with, eagerly telling him about the rickshaws and their crashes, the bakery, the Kung Fu Academy and the shadow puppet play, the height and number and stacking of the buildings and all the lanterns, all the smells and sights and sounds. (The white peacock didn't talk about everyone staring though, even if An might understand a little-even if he probably already knew.)

"We should go together next time," the prince said, stifling a yawn.

An nodded.

###

Shen's nightmares had gotten worse. When he woke up from another one, groaning at his lost sleep, he found his wings were clasped in the Soothsayer's hooves. Her eyes were red.

"I'm so sorry, my Prince."

Shen's eyes glanced from the hooves around his wings, then back to her face. He blinked, slowly.

"For what, Na-oh. Oh, that's-it's not your fault." Shen insisted, earnest, "You were tricked-"

"Darling, I never should have left you."

The Soothsayer hugged the prince tight before he could protest.

The white peacock shut his eyes, leaning into her touch. The old goat's scent was familiar-earthy, herbal. Home. Safe.

The boy's question came out muffled in her shoulder.

"Hmmm?" And the Soothsayer loosened her grip.

But Shen still spoke into her shoulder, "Are Baba and Mama-um, did father and mother come back?"

"Not yet, dear."

"Can I wait up for them?"

"If you can."

Lord Baojia and Lady Fen found their son, asleep again, their Soothsayer's hand on his forehead.

The old goat glanced at them, and said, "I'll wake him."

"Oh no, we don't want him to-"

"It's not necessary-"

"With all due respect, it is," said the Soothsayer, and she gently coaxed Shen awake.

"'mwhasgoinon?"

"Hello, dear heart," Fen said, sitting before her son and taking his wing.

"How are you feeling, son?" Baojia asked as he sat on the other side of him.

Shen rubbed the gunk out of his eye with his free wing.

"'m better, Baba-Father."

Baojia smiled, gently ruffling the feathers on his son's head.

The Soothsayer watched, and then said, "I'll get some tea." And the old goat left the white peacock with his parents.

###

Out of Shen's hearing, there'd been discussion over the next move regarding his care.

Increase the guard, or move the Soothsayer and he out of her apartment and into the palace along with the increased guard? (More protection was a given either way.) Would it be seen as too much of a sign of weakness to move the boy from his caretaker's apartment? Or foolishness if they let him stay? It had been planned that when Shen was old enough to leave the Soothsayer's immediate care, that he would get his own quarters in the palace; perhaps just ahead of schedule? (And said quarters now slightly altered, to accommodate both the goat and the white peacock still.)

The Soothsayer advised moving the boy into the palace, wryly remarking there'd been a room she'd always had her eye on. Master Thundering Rhino backed her up. Altogether, that clinched it for Lord Baojia and Lady Fen.

Though neither one was certain if the Soothsayer got the room she wanted. The old goat seemed satisfied with the new spacious apartment inside the palace tower all the same. She and her child now had a balcony.

Shen himself was less than convinced.

"Do we have to go, Nana?"

"It won't be so bad, dear. You'll like it, trust me."

Once the prince was well enough to move in, he supposed the old goat was right. Their new quarters became more familiar, at least, once everything was brought over; his toys and scrolls; and all her herbs and odd ends were in their space again, all her incense burning. Still the boy found he had trouble sleeping in his bedding on the floor.

Finally the Soothsayer coaxed him under the blankets with her, and that helped. It'd been a while since this had happened. Before, Shen had declared that he was too big to seek reassurance under the covers with her anymore, refusing her invitation to find sleep with her after a bad dream. But this time was different, the prince found nothing inside himself to protest her guiding hand and the blanket around them both. Listening to her heartbeat and breathing was soothing. (Yet Shen had trouble recently looking at either of her horns; he saw blood there again and again, from where she'd stabbed his attacker, even though that had long since been cleaned.)

###

Shen was happiest to return to training with Master Thundering Rhino out of all his studies, even more than science and math and art.

The boy pushed himself harder, his motivation renewed. He didn't want to be so weak again, to be so caught off guard, to be so filled with terror; he didn't want to upset his nanny and his parents and make everyone else gossip so much.

Thundering Rhino noticed.

One day, he led Shen to another part of the palace grounds.

The prince hazarded a guess, hopeful. "Are you taking me someplace to spar?"

"Still need to master your basics-and I admit, you're still a bit too young," Thundering Rhino answered, his voice gentle. "No, we're going to the court's black smithy."

Shen's eyes widened. "Is that were you got your cloud hammer?"

"The head blacksmith's an old friend."

Thundering Rhino soon introduced the prince to that friend, a dark furred monkey named De, and after all the pleasantries were exchanged, Shen eagerly watched her clever fingers work with the metal as he bombarded her with questions. Her assistants looked on, a little wary of their (white) prince's attention and enthusiasm, but the boy didn't really notice-he was too focused on all the metal work.

Thundering Rhino was amused to learn from De that Shen came to her smithy again and again, observing and always returning with new questions. Finally the monkey had taught him a few simple starter techniques and assigned him little assignments to get him out of her fur and give her workers some peace. She'd just given him little scraps of metals with tools and shown him how to put them together. But De felt a little pleased when the prince turned around to proudly show her what he completed, little metal model toys that were static, or metal toys with wheels to roll around on.

The Soothsayer liked his little creations too, as did the wolf cubs; he gave one of them to An.

His parents were busy, and it was harder to show his work to them. He sort of managed in the throne room, when both his parents were there, and he played at their feet-but their glances were brief, and Shen wasn't really sure they actually looked. Or cared-but what was his toy compared to managing and protecting their whole province? The boy had to remind himself to not be selfish and to be a prince, distant and strong, and to be wise, and know why their attention was always drawn away. He reminded himself they had stayed by his side in the infirmary. (But did he have to almost die to get their attention?)

Once Thundering Rhino told her that Lord Baojia and Lady Fen gave their permission, De slowly let Shen assist in her blacksmithing under the proper tutelage and safety instruction. Though young, the boy was careful, obedient, and still enthusiastic. He took up wearing less fine robes again and again with this sort of mess in work (and in play and in Kung Fu training).

Finally Shen asked, as if he'd been practicing the question, if he may keep a knife he helped craft. Not one for a customer or the armory, but a new one, just for him and not taking away from anyone or anything.

It was then De sent the white peacock back to Thundering Rhino to deal with the matter.

The Kung Fu master seriously considered Shen's request.

"Why?" He asked, wanting to see if the boy could articulate, seizing upon the first available opening that seemed to work. They had not really discussed the assassination attempt, Thundering Rhino at a loss of what to say or how to approach it.

The Kung Fu master had instead focused on increasing his guard and further preparing Shen, capitalizing on the boy's own renewed fervor. Though even that concerned the Kung Fu master; the prince at times bordered on pushing himself far too hard, and his teacher did not want him to be consumed by battle, not at his age. Did not want him terrified-at times Thundering Rhino thought training would lessen his fear; other times he felt it only fed into it, threatened to make him too paranoid.

"...You know why," the child mumbled, toying with the edge of his sleeve.

Thundering Rhino sighed. "That's what I thought." He beckoned the child to sit down.

"Hidden weapons, such as knives, are valuable, especially for those in your family."

Shen looked up at his master. "My parents have them too? I've never seen-um..."

The boy flushed as Thundering Rhino chuckled. Shen grumbled, "Okay, that's the point, but..."

"It is wise of you to think of further methods of self-defense," Thundering Rhino said gently. He was finally able to articulate, if blunt, "Once you saw the intruder, you retreated and shielded yourself with your bedding, correct?"

Yes, deep down Thundering Rhino did not wish to remind Shen, but he wanted the boy to comprehend his accomplishment.

His head ached as the prince nodded, his red eyes far away.

"That was quick thinking, my prince."

From what the Kung Fu master had heard, Shen, though groggy and young and supposedly frail, had still managed to dodge fast enough, and thought quickly enough to use the blankets and pillows as a makeshift barrier. The knife had hit, yes, and the prince had almost died-but the Kung Fu master was certain it would've been worse, death could have been immediate, if not for the boy's actions. Certainly not his own; Thundering Rhino was still ashamed over failing in protecting the child, especially when it would've cost so deeply had he died.

Thundering Rhino's headache lessened as the boy tentatively relaxed.

The next day, the Kung Fu master gave Shen a wooden short sword. The white peacock watched as Thundering Rhino traded his familiar hammer for a sword, and demonstrated a form with it. Shen tried to duplicate him soon afterward.

Later the boy found the Soothsayer and his parents together in the throne room, and once the council left them alone, Shen took his chance and showed all three of them his new practice weapon and what Thundering Rhino taught him.

They were pleased. Father and mother had even taken the time to demonstrate with their own short swords, showing Shen another form that he eagerly copied.

But then they had another meeting, and the Soothsayer took Shen to the gardens for a picnic and to run around, playing and still practicing with his wooden short sword. Eventually the old goat had to carry her child back to the palace, she'd let him tire himself out thoroughly.

"Nana, Baba and Mama were proud, weren't they?" Shen yawned as the Soothsayer tucked him in, his practice weapon stored safely away. "I think they were proud."

"I know they were." And the old goat kissed him good night, and left a candle burning, one she carefully watched.

Shen fell asleep in the fire's glow, and the Soothsayer came in, gently blowing it out and letting the cool calm dark in.

EDIT A/N: Important-Revised the above chapter. I took out the very last part with a hint of India, etc. Originally that was meant to be the transition before the time skip, but another idea occurred to me about Shen's very early childhood (roughly infant to five years old) that I wanted to do before time skip, and which I eventually felt would serve as a better transition than the first version. I have a rough idea of where everything is going with this fic, though not every detail is settled upon-thus this revision issue.

A/N: Important-going on a 2-3 week hiatus while on a trip. Hopefully I'll have a new update ready soon after I'm back, so please be patient for the fic to continue.

And something amazing happened: Mitch-el on deviantart has drawn phenomenal fanart of young Shen inspired by this fic, appropriately called "Pain;" check out the artist's gallery.

It is so good. It's like exactly how I pictured little Shen in my head. Thank you so much again Mitch-el!

Hmmm, I'm not sure how egalitarian KFP's ancient China is, but I think it's pretty good. I mean, there are Kung Fu Masters Tigress and Viper, I like to think that Shen's biological mother had great power and direct responsibility over Gongmen Province/City too, and the Soothsayer seems like she was a pretty high-level advisor overall (even outside of Shen's filial attachment for her, she seemed that way for his parents too). So it goes with the court's lead blacksmith being a woman, and the authority of young Boss Wolf's/An's mother, Fang. De is a black snub-nosed monkey (and her name means 'virtue').

Comrade: Thank you, that's a great compliment. :)

Jazzy Jazz: I'm glad Shen having fun was infectious. And I'm glad you were caught off guard and felt a little of Shen's terror at the end, I was working toward that. Can't wait to see your stories.

And thanks to everyone's kind reviews and comments. Please keep an eye out for the next chapter after the hiatus! :D


	7. white as snow

Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen

Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 7. white as snow: In which a young Shen takes to the air, gets into snowball fights, tours a fireworks factory, and celebrates the winter festival. Or, snapshots of a season gone by.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.

Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.

A/N: Important!: I revised the last chapter, taking out the very last part with a hint of India. Originally that was meant to be the transition before the time skip, but another idea occurred to me about Shen's very early childhood (roughly infant to five year old) that I wanted to do before time skip, and which I eventually felt would serve as a better transition than the first version. I have a rough idea of where everything is going with this fic, though not every detail is settled upon-thus this revision issue.

After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, like my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"-a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit (i.e. Shen strikes out at another peacock child, next chapter his parents let him train under Master Thundering Rhino to hopefully teach him self-control, same chapter he meets a young Boss Wolf, next chapter Shen gets sick from playing with Boss Wolf, next chapter he's so sick he missed his exact birthday, so now he's celebrating a belated one with the Soothsayer on his first trip outside of the tower to Gongmen City, then he survives his first assassination attempt, next chapter he recovers but is pretty much emotionally scarred...). And it's an order and interconnectedness I don't want to break now, so this will, well, just start officially continuing to go in more of that order with all of the stories still interconnecting as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more—and that exploration of how he came to be remains as one of the earlier goals I wanted with this fic.

Thanks again everyone for all the reviews! I always love hearing what people have to say about the fic and knowing they liked it, and what they specifically liked too.

Always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible.

I'm gonna try to individually reply to all your kind reviews with 's handy PM feature (except for users not signed in, since that feature's not available with them—those responses are at the bottom here).

Also, I started a new Shen-centric KFP fic, "Change the Fate's Design," if anyone wants to check it out and leave a review. It should be in continuity with this fic (up to a point).

white as snow

"So can I go?"

Master Thundering Rhino shook his head, and instantly the white peacock fell back on his bed.

"The Soothsayer and your parents said you're too young-and frankly, I agree."

Shen huffed, folding his wings. "I'm five years old," he reminded the Kung Fu Master.

Thundering Rhino chuckled. "That's exactly the point."

The boy sighed, mumbling, "It's 'cause I got sick again-"

He perked up, and said more firmly, "But I'd be better by the time you have to go-"

Thundering Rhino gently ruffled the feathers on his head.

"When you're older, you can come to the Winter Feast at the Jade Palace with me," he promised.

Shen sighed. "Okay," he mumbled, still looking put out. Then remembering himself, the prince inclined his head as royally as he could, his best approximation of a bow while lying down, and said more formally and firmly, "Yes, Master."

Thundering Rhino laughed, so infectious it made the boy grin a little. "Always so formal. I suppose I should expect no less from a prince," the Kung Fu Master said fondly.

Then Shen coughed, and the more he tried to restrain himself the harder his coughs became. The rhino gently helped him sit up, pat his back with his giant hoof, and made the boy drink some tea the Soothsayer had made.

"I'll train hard while you're gone, Sir," Shen said afterward, panting and in a small guilty voice.

The rhino smirked; "Yes, you will-Storming Ox and Master Croc will make sure of that. They'll continue your training in my absence." His smirk faded as he reminded the boy, "But remember your limits, my prince."

Shen thanked Master Thundering Rhino and wished him a safe journey.

###

"Bao," and the Gongmen Emperor turned to his wife as the childhood nickname left her beak. "We can't put it off any longer."

Lord Baojia sighed, agreeing.

Then together they watched their son running out into the snow, recovered from his latest bout of sickness and firmly bundled up, under the Soothsayer's watchful eye.

###

Shen had gone out in between lessons to at least walk around in the snow a little bit more. He wanted to play in it again so badly. He curiously watched antelopes set up a large rope net in between trees in the courtyard.

Before the boy could question them, he was called away by his tutor, and he trudged to his etiquette course. He shot the snow longing looks, and reserved curious glances for the net.

Shen learned of the net soon enough. After another lecture on courtly behavior, Shen had bundled up for the snow outside and gone looking for the Soothsayer. The old goat had promised him they'd go into the city again for lunch. It was something he'd been looking forward to, especially with Master Thundering Rhino on his way to the Valley of Peace, and since it would be the first time he'd gone since his birthday celebration and that disastrous night.

"I'm afraid it'll be a late lunch or dinner in the city-your parents have summoned you," the Soothsayer told him once he found her, walking down the tower steps. She quickly inspected him, and deemed he'd bundled himself up for the cold weather adequately enough.

"Aren't we going to the throne room?" Shen asked, trying to be calm and repress the eagerness in his voice.

"No dear, they'll meet you in the courtyard."

The boy blinked. "Is it about the-?"

"The net, yes."

Once they saw his parents by said net, Shen overtook the Soothsayer, starting to run-but then he stumbled, slowing down as he noted their own composure. He halted before them, quickly bowing.

"Father, Mother," he greeted them, hoping it was formal and smooth, but it just came out stiff to his own hearing.

Lord Baojia and Lady Fen bowed to their son. "Prince Shen." They were much more smoothly formal.

The blue peafowl nodded to the Soothsayer, who nodded back and patted Shen's shoulder good-bye. "Good luck, dear."

"With what-?"

"Gliding. It's time you started learning," his mother said as the old goat left. Shen looked to her, then his father, who nodded and quickly climbed up one of the trees the net was tied to.

Lady Fen bent down, lifting Shen up. The boy instantly squawked, protesting, "Mama, I can climb up myself!"

The blue peahen blinked, then let go. "Very well, dear." Still, she carefully watched Shen make his way up. Shen clung tight as he climbed and leapt for a new higher grip, but still he slipped a couple of times. It didn't help when he could hear his mother reach forward to help, and he had to remind her he could do it himself. He tried not to look at his father; his calm, impassive stare didn't help either. Both of them watching him climb and waiting didn't help at all, actually.

The boy's small spark of pleasure and relief once he was finally up on his father's branch vanished once his mother was beside him a second later, the ascent taking her no time at all. Shen tried to remind himself the speed and ease was just because she and his father were both grown-ups. A normal and healthy blue peacock child would've climbed up by himself in the same time as Shen too, surely; he wasn't so different after all, he wasn't so much weaker and slower...

But the young prince was soon distracted by watching his father demonstrate and lecture, flaring his wings and noting his train hanging off the branch. The boy had seen him glide before in a flash, but had never noted the process detail by detail before.

Finally at the end of it, Lord Baojia leapt off and glided to one of the trees across from them. Once he'd seen his father land, Shen gulped, a sudden prickle of trepidation settling down his spine.

"Get ready," ordered Lady Fen, and Shen obediently opened his wings.

"I'm going to push you off, all right?" Though there really wasn't a question in his mother's voice.

"Mama-"

She shoved him off firmly, and Shen didn't make a sound in his surprise at the rush of air, this was very different from jumping, especially since he knew the whole point was to glide and he-

Shen bounced in the rope net before coming to a stop. On his back, he blinked up at his mother.

"Come back up, dear," was all Lady Fen said.

Shen tried to climb up the tree quickly, especially since mother expected him to do it by himself now, she believed he could do it-he slipped and fell, the air knocked out of him after passing through the short distance straight to the ground. Before he could get up himself or even assert his independence, his mother had gone down and carried him to the tree's branch in seconds.

"Are you all right? Does anything-?" and Lady Fen quickly checked her son over for anything broken.

"Mama, I'm okay-" Shen avoided his father's eye.

Finally after a few more minutes of Shen protesting and insisting he was fine and convincing his mother to let him continue, Lady Fen nodded her head, pushing him gently toward the edge.

"Get ready now-"

His wings flared, heart pounding, and Lady Fen threw Shen off again. He again tried to copy his father, let the wind flow and keep his wings simultaneously taut and flexible. But that same panic flared up in his chest and up to his head, and he plopped back in the net again, tangling himself in his frustration at the failure and his frenzy to get out.

"Shen," and the boy froze at his father's voice. "Calm yourself."

Swallowing hard, the prince carefully untangled himself, then slowly climbed back up the tree.

Again and again he was thrown off, and again and again he could not glide.

Lady Fen frowned, and Shen tried not to cringe. But his mother just said thoughtfully, "Perhaps we need more air?"

His father nodded, and this time the blue peahen carefully took her son's shoulders in her talons. Shen gave a quiet gasp as his mother took off with him in her hold. He flared out his wings, his tail feathers-this flow of air was nice-gliding was nice-

"Ready now? I'm going to let go."

"Rea-"

She let go, and Shen's confidence burst as he swiftly dropped with air rushing by in a scream. He felt himself spin in free fall, all thought leaving his mind except for that same blinding panic. His wings weren't working, he wasn't working, he was defective, he was too weak and white and _weak_-

Shen bit his tongue as he felt another set of talons catch him. He was lowered to the snow by the net, and the prince looked up at his father.

"That's enough for today. You must be hungry," Lord Baojia said gently.

Shen choked back his protest, his insistence that they continue. Though gentle, his father's words still sounded final. The boy's eyes watered, and damnably, he started to sniffle.

"Dry your eyes," his father ordered, all gentleness evaporating and replaced by a solid harshness.

The boy scrubbed at his eyes, trying to dry them fast.

"Not so hard, you'll hurt yourself." His father sighed and bent down, removing the boy's scrubbing wings and gently dabbing at his son's eyes with the corner of his sleeve.

Shen swallowed down another sniffle. "I failed," the boy mumbled, admitting defeat.

"All that matters is that you didn't give up," his mother said as she landed softly by them.

"Such determination is a mark of strength," his father added, gently squeezing the boy's shoulder. "We don't expect you to get it so quickly."

"Why not?" The boy sounded indignant, and a little hurt. "Just 'cause I'm-"

"It's not to do with your color or health," his mother gently cut him off.

"No?" Shen grunted, folding his arms and glaring down.

"No," his father repeated, firmly and taking his face and making it look up at him and mother. "It's because you are young, and that's the way it works often enough: practice and patience, not immediacy."

Shen was still uncertain, yet he nodded and quickly hugged his parents; he felt a little better. They were caught off guard, but they eventually returned with a stiff, quick hug of their own.

As the blue peafowl and their white son walked back to the tower, Shen tried to get his nerves back together. He asked, "Bab-Father, Mother, would…would you be able to go with Nana and I to the city today?..."

"I'm sorry, dear, but we only had time for this, we have to-"

Shen's reassuring and understanding smile felt very unwieldy on his face, a false thing he hoped his parents wouldn't comment on as they left him for another meeting. But not before leaving him with safety instructions: mainly, he was not to practice on his own without their supervision.

The next day Shen pretty much disregarded that, though the boy made sure to only practice above the safety net. It was there for a reason-and still there, no one had taken it down, it was just there inviting him to try. And as he hadn't seen his parents at all that day, they wouldn't notice, surely.

But the Soothsayer noticed.

"I'll be careful, Nana, I promise." The old goat looked up at her charge in the tree, her face unreadable. "Please, I have to practice. I want to be gliding the next time my parents can see-"

The Soothsayer shook her head, "My Lord and Lady don't expect you-"

"-to get it so quickly, I know," Shen grumbled, looking away.

Sighing, the old goat shook her head. "You still need supervision."

And so the Soothsayer summoned a goose servant to observe the prince (and to catch him, just in case). The old goat stayed too.

However, the boy felt more awkward and unsure when under the goose's observation. He fumbled more.

Bouncing again in the net, the prince glared at the goose. The servant fidgeted and continued trying to find a balance between not gaping at and keeping a watchful eye on his province's heir.

"Do you have any advice?" Shen gritted the question out.

The goose stuttered. "I d-do not know, my Prince…geese and peafowl-"

"-are different, right," the boy muttered, allowing his weight to sink further in the net. "You can really fly, while we…can't, really, just glide..." For a moment the boy wondered why, silently going over the explanation his parents had given him.

Shen shook himself, and ordered the goose to take him up and drop him.

"M-my Lord?..."

"My mother thought I needed more air-go up higher to figure out how to-"

"He will not be taking you up," the Soothsayer said, putting her hoof down.

The prince frowned, sitting up and glaring at his nanny. Though embarrassing to admit, he spat out, "I'm small enough for him to carry-"

"-but his webbed feet cannot grip as well as talons."

Shen slumped down, not caring if he pouted.

The goose servant's eyes anxiously darted between the nanny and her charge, before the old goat dismissed him with her thanks, and told him that she would let him know when she needed him to watch Shen again.

The prince stayed in the net, arms folded. But his anger was spent, replaced by the morose bent of his neck.

Then something cold and soft and wet splattered against his face, making him plop back on his back. He got up, and saw the Soothsayer bouncing another snowball in her hoof, smirking.

The young peacock gleefully chased his nanny around with snowballs of his own, and they played in the courtyard until his tutors came calling.

###

To Shen's delight, the snow grew heavier. Consequently he was fussed over more and more when he wanted to go out and play in it. The boy was made to consume more foul-tasting and supposedly preemptive medicinal herbs. He endured experiments in bundling him up more, with various thicker robes and even wrapping his talons tight in different cloths.

Even though the Soothsayer made sure warmer clothes did not constrict his movement and occasionally allowed the boy to bundle himself up pending her final approval, Shen still envied An's and the other wolves' fur coats, even if they too were bundling up more. But then he was puzzled by his parents, who did bundle up but not as much as he.

"They are older, dear-they can handle the cold more, their plumage is more developed."

"Mine's dev-developed enough, I can handle it too."

"Oh, really?" The old goat asked, so playful it annoyed her young charge.

"Yes, really, you guys just never let me try 'cause you wrap me up in everything-"

"Now now, we haven't wrapped you up so that you couldn't even move in a long time-and even then, we had enough sense not to let you out of your room to be laughed at."

The boy huffed, and the only change after that conversation was that the Soothsayer had started to let Shen bundle himself up, as long as she could inspect him and decide whether he could go out, or she'd redress himself in something warmer.

Whether winter or normal garments, Shen had worn white and similar shades before, and actually liked the match to his stupid feathers. He thought it better than anything that contrasted, which seemed to just show off his wrong color, stark and obvious in comparison. But once Shen was bundled up all in white during his fifth winter. That day An, Shen and the rest of the wolf cubs had skipped snowball fights, building figures in the snow, and leaving impressions of their own bodies in the snow in favor of hide-and-seek. An went first, and eventually the only one he couldn't find was his prince.

"Shen?" The wolf cub called out, forgetting the peacock's title in his kin's presence as a steady panic began to seize him. An recalled servants' gossip about Shen being bundled up more than any other person in the tower's vicinity for his own good, so weak and delicate was he; their speculation that it was all due to Lord Baojia and Lady Fen's unspoken but standing, perhaps overprotective, order that he be bundled up so; their theorizing that his parents were this close to confining Shen to the palace for the whole winter; another said the Soothsayer had persuaded them against that, placating them with the promise that he'd be well layered and carefully watched.

An remembered a sick Shen passing out during ball, an injured Shen bedridden and wrapped in bandages that were starting to bleed through again and looking very not alive...

"Do you guys know where he is?" An asked the other cubs, huddled under the tree one of them had carved 'SAFE' into. They shook their heads.

An snarled, "Forget the game, where-?"

"No, we don't really know where he is, right guys?" Jie protested, looking to the rest of her kin under the tree, and again, they all nodded.

An sputtered. "Well, then-c'mon, let's just find him."

An and the rest fanned out, but no matter how hard they looked in the snow they couldn't find Shen.

An's father passed by the searching children, and with his wolf hears overheard their distress.

"You're looking for the prince-" He began, walking over to his cub.

An looked up to his father, worried. "We can't find him, Ba!"

"-in the snow."

"We were only playing hide-and-seek and he wasn't sick this time, and he's all bundled up so he should be fine, and he's really not so weak like everyone says-"

"You're looking for the prince in _white_ snow."

An blinked. Then groaned, remembering the most important thing: that Shen's clothes today matched his plumage. The wolf cub began sniffing for the white peacock's scent.

"You need to keep your head even when you panic," Shang reminded his son, as the other cubs noticed and began following An's lead. Shang merely followed, wanting to see how his son and the other cubs would do tracking the prince down, confident that his future emperor was fine. Shang was more surprised to find that apparently the prince was much more cleverer than he would've thought for one so young.

An followed his nose, straight to…more snow. Mounds of snow. Focusing harder, he nosed the snow mounds. Finally, one twitched and snickered at his touch.

The wolf cub sighed, relieved, then playfully shoved Shen. The younger boy snickered more and picked himself up from the snow, white flakes spilling off.

"You took forever," the prince laughed, then stopped when he saw Shang and the rest of the cubs crowding around.

The boy tilted his head, confused and curious. "I thought only one person's supposed to look?"

An grumbled, "'S' not fair you're white, we couldn't find you in all this snow-"

"You didn't sniff me out from the start?"

An huffed, folding his arms and looking away as his father chuckled and the other cubs shuffled their paws in the snow, embarrassed.

"Look, we're wolves, noses so keen it makes hide-and-seek less fun, so we don't really use it, okay?" An grumbled, his eyes still refusing to look at Shen or anyone else, especially not his father.

Shang then asked his prince, "Did you plan to camouflage yourself with the snow?"

Shen frowned. "C-camo-camowhat-?"

Shang chuckled, and An felt he would die of increased embarrassment; his prince had done it well enough to fool him and the others, and he was still too little to even know that sort of vocabulary! "'Camouflage' is another word for blending in with the environment."

"Oh. Then, yes, I thought I could try it, especially if I covered up the eyespots on my tail feathers with more snow." Shen had a concerned frown then as he looked back to An. "But I didn't think you wouldn't use your nose right away-"

An grumbled something incomprehensible, glaring at his feet.

However, Shang saw an opportunity and seized it.

Once he had permission from Lord Baojia and Lady Fen, Shang and his wife taught Shen to hide himself in the snow even more effectively, hiding his tracks and such, while An and the other wolf cubs searched for him. They made it even more difficult with special herbal ointments that lessened Shen's scent; the Soothsayer even showed him how to make those himself. The training exercise was essentially a grander hide-and-seek, something Shen, An and the other cubs enjoyed immensely. The grown-ups were satisfied that future guardsmen were improving their tracking skills, and even the prince was learning of another way to deal with any future assassins that hunted for him.

###

One time, An watched Shen practice gliding.

"Don't you need to get higher for-?"

"At the moment, no." For the first time the Soothsayer was short with the wolf cub. Shen and her had just been arguing about that very issue again when An arrived.

Glancing between the peacock and goat that were taut with tension, to the goose that continued to wish he was somewhere else, An quietly trotted back to the guards' barracks. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at Shen, sticking his tongue out at him. The older cub had to choke back the urge to laugh.

###

After training, Shen laid panting between Master Croc and Storming Ox as they sat in the training hall. The snow storm moaned outside.

Ox stared down at the prince, and remarked, "Master Thundering Rhino's right, you _are_ pushing yourself too hard."

The boy frowned. "What's wrong with that?"

Croc waved an expansive claw along Shen's frame.

The boy's frown deepened. "You just gestured to all of me."

"You look burnt out," Ox clarified. "You're _five_ and you're burnt out."

Shen looked half-mutinous, half-dejected.

Croc lightly punched Ox in the shoulder. "What he means is that it seems a bit much for **any** child your age," Croc elaborated, pointedly glancing at Ox.

"Well, it's not like any other kids are gonna rule this city one day," Shen pointed out.

"Not to mention the whole province," reminded Croc, and this time Ox punched him in the shoulder at the look of anxiety flashing across the boy's face.

The white peacock turned on his side, sighing. He faced Master Croc, and stared at the metal spiked ball on his tail. It wasn't the first time he had watched it with interest. He wished his tail was stiff and strong enough to have such a neat weapon attached to it, but Master Thundering Rhino had told him he had his own strengths, telling him stories of how his father would use his own grand tail feathers to misdirect and confuse his foes.

"Did De make that for you?" Shen finally asked, pointing to the spiked ball.

Croc jerked slightly, then regarded his tail's weapon. There was a distant look in his eyes.

"Nah, it was a friend from my bandit days."

Shen perked up at that, and wished An was here, instead of training with his own pack. He and the wolf cub loved listening to stories of Master Croc's bandit days, though a lot of the grown-ups didn't approve, and even Croc himself would be cagey about the topic, though often enough Storming Ox would just tease him.

Right now Ox was smirking at Croc, who was making a mighty effort to ignore him.

"So how'd you get it?"

Croc laughed at the eager look on the prince's face.

"Sorry to say, there's no great story to that. It was actually Wu's idea, she wanted to experiment-"

"Wu liked her experiments, didn't she?" Ox commented very lightly, as Croc's eyes narrowed at the warrior. Shen's eyes wandered between the two, wondering what was going over his head.

"Yes, she did," Croc said curtly, and Ox laughed.

"Anyway, Wu had never crafted a weapon like this before, and it was an honor to receive something so unique from her."

"It really is cool," Shen agreed, stretching up and carefully touching the spike ball with a wing tip. "I wish I could meet her."

Croc sighed. "I'm afraid she and I haven't spoken to each for quite a long time."

Before Shen could ask why, Storming Ox snapped up and invited Croc to spar with him. The reptile readily agreed.

"Can I stay and watch?"

Ox blinked. "There's no need to ask permission for that. And you never have before."

Croc shot the boy a sly look. "Etiquette lesson next?"

Shen huffed. "I can learn way more from watching you two spar than from listening to that old windbag."

"More fun too," Ox added, grinning when Croc playfully whacked him with his tail, bent so that scales hit him instead of metal.

"As long as we can have deniability-"

"Yeah, no one has to know that you knew I had to go to etiquette next-"

"-then yes, you can watch," Croc finished, catching the agreement in Ox's eye. They figured they could be lenient in this case, and it was the boy's choice.

Shen stayed, transfixed as the kung fu warriors traded blows, right up until the Soothsayer came calling. She was only mildly reproaching, a playful tilt to her whole manner.

"Your tutor's been asking me where you are..."

The prince bowed to Storming Ox and Master Croc, thanking them before he left with the old goat.

###

After the snowfall had left another blanket of white, Storming Ox observed Shen throw himself over the net, only to fall down again.

"You know, I could throw you up, give you more air-"

"That won't be necessary." The Soothsayer's voice was immediate, clipped, low and stone cold.

"Yesma'm." Ox's response just as immediate, the same as his exit.

When the warrior was gone, Shen sat up straight from the net and turned to the old goat. "C'mon Nana, everyone's thinking it-"

"We've had this discussion before."

"What discussion? You ordered me."

"Your parents' order, actually; the only one we're really following to the letter."

Shen rolled his eyes, plopping back down to the net, bouncing slightly. "Like they'll ever show up."

Everything about the Soothsayer's manner became more gentle and sympathetic as she reached out a hoof for her boy. "Dear-"

Shen quickly rolled away from her touch, his back still facing her as he shifted to his side, close to the edge of the net.

"They only ever practiced with me once, how am I ever gonna get it if they never-?"

"Once the workload lightens and they're less busy-"

"They're _always_ busy. I know the city and the whole province needs them-I _know_, okay? I'm not stupid! But don't they know I need them too? I-"

Shen broke off, snapping his beak, frustrated. A heavy silence fell between the white peacock and the goat, settling in for a few minutes.

Then Shen felt the Soothsayer's hoof on his shoulder-next something rip on his sleeve.

"Hey!" The prince yelped, indignant as the Soothsayer nibbled on the scrap of robe she just tore off.

"Oh, sorry dear," and the old goat offered up her own sleeve, her eyes mischievous.

"_Naanaa_," Shen whined, elongating her name as he pushed the offered sleeve away, ignoring the smile in her eyes and around her nibbling mouth.

"Huh, I see your tastes have changed. When you were just a small chick, you seemed to find my clothes quite satisfying."

"…I did not." The boy's voice was very small and disbelieving.

"Oh yes you did." The Soothsayer smiled fondly at Shen's indignant and still skeptical squawk.

"I'd eat bits of your clothes even when you were a baby-how could I not, you wear such delicious fabrics. You couldn't fail to notice. One day, you started nibbling on my own sleeves, expecting the same result and thinking it was edible for you too. It was absolutely darling to behold, but of course I kept you from actually swallowing."

As the old goat reminisced, Shen steadily shrank into himself and desperately wished he could just sink and vanish into the matching white snow that very instant.

###

Eventually Lord Baojia and Lady Fen found time to practice gliding with Shen again. For all the boy's practice beforehand, there was no success. No tears either, though the prince was still very much upset. However, this time his parents stayed after, actually taking him to the fireworks factory for the very first time, a trip that cheered up their son considerably.

Shen took in the sight of the factory eagerly; its smoke stacks, its large, long structure. Even from the outside it bustled with energy, especially with workers going in and out. Inside it was even more chaotic, although his parents told him activity was actually less in the colder weather, and would soon cease for the winter festival, where the production's labor would be enjoyed as the noisemakers frightened away evil spirits.

The boy watched wires dipped into chemical concoctions and baked into sparklers. He observed the gunpowder being mixed. The prince saw the explosive materials wrapped in stiff paper tubes or bamboo casings from the nearby panda village to create the basic body of fireworks. Shen had never seen real live pandas before today. Some had come with extra bamboo supplies, and the boy found them large, like Master Thundering Rhino, Storming Ox and Master Croc. But the pandas were almost as starkly white as he-but for them, it was natural, and balanced out by large patches of black, while he was only thinly lined and dotted in that dark color.

"What do you know of our family's history with fireworks?" Lord Baojia asked his son.

Shen frowned thoughtfully, pulling himself away from watching the artisans decorate the fireworks. "Emperor Sui made them, and, well…not much…like I've heard a bunch of different stories from everyone, though some stuff stays the same in a lot of them…Nana keeps telling me a different version every time I ask," the boy finished with a huff.

Lady Fen chuckled. "And those particular stories of hers don't amuse you?"

"Well, they do," the boy admitted. "At the moment, anyway," Shen added under his breath.

"Then her intention is served," his mother said, smiling. "The origin of fireworks goes far back, even before our family's invention of gunpowder."

The prince blinked. "How can you have fireworks without gunpowder?"

"Well, they were more like firecrackers," his father clarified as Shen followed him and his mother to an observation platform away from the work flow.

"Many years ago in Gongmen Province, there was a panda named Han."

"Nana mentioned him in a bunch of her stories!"

"So she kept that part in, huh?" Lady Fen said, teasing her son, who shyly ducked his head.

"Well, I figured that was true, everyone else mentioned him too…though sometimes he was a pirate, then others said he was a prince; then a warrior, a monk, a sribe, a mystic..."

"He was a merchant and somewhat of a farmer," Lord Baojia said. "On one of his trips selling his wares and crops, Han's camp fire ran low. He had none of his own fuel left; so, instead he took a piece of his dinner that night, a chunk of green bamboo, and gave it to the fire. The fire wasn't just fed-the green rod sizzled and turned black, before finally exploding. Han was terribly frightened, jumping clear into the air and even clinging to a bamboo tree still rooted in the earth."

Baojia and Fen grinned as their son giggled at the image. Shen was amused at picturing such large creatures being so shocked and moving so quick up trees.

"Han was so frightened by the strange new sound, he thought it surely could frighten away ill-meaning spirits, especially Nian, who ate not only the land's crops but also the people," said Lady Fen. "Still Han stuck to his schedule, but was eager to share the discovery at his next stop in Gongmen City, with the second born prince, Lord Sui. He and the panda had long been friends since Sui was a little chick, when Han had sold him toys and showed him card tricks."

Lord Baojia continued, "Han found Sui in his alchemy lab. The panda merchant forgot his own news as he saw large bandages wrapped over his lord's left eye. Alarmed, Han asked Prince Sui what had happened, and the young fowl sighed."

"He started from the beginning, explaining that his parents had boasted that he, their youngest child, so skilled in alchemy and fascinated by chemical mixtures, could find the elixir of life-despite Sui's own doubts that such a thing was possible, let alone should even be attempted."

"Nian, who was a particularly proud spirit and a believer in the utter inferiority of mortals, kidnapped the eldest prince and princess. Nian sneered at the Gongmen Emperor and Empress, promising them that if their youngest son gave him the elixir of life for safekeeping, they would have all their children back. His parents sent their bravest warriors and mystics, but still Sui worked to meet Nian's demands. During his experiments, he had stumbled upon a new mixture and it-"

"What was it made of?" Shen asked, head tilted.

"Honey," and Baojia smiled at his son squawking a little in shock before stifling it, "sulfur, saltpeter and arsenic disulfide."

"Sui had not expected the mixture to ignite so extremely as he cooked it over a fire," Fen picked up. "It turned into its own large flame, burning hot and bright. It burnt Sui's face, and almost his entire lab."

"Yet the youngest prince continued experimenting with the dangerous mix-"

"The gunpowder, right?" Shen asked, no longer content waiting for his parents to come out and say it on their own time.

"Yes, dear. Though at the time Sui called it the 'fire chemical,' and hoped it could be used to save his older brother and sister from Nian," explained Fen. "As he experimented further, he realized that adding more saltpeter made the flame burn faster, more powerful and louder."

"Han then remembered the bursting bamboo, and told Prince Sui," Baojia said. "Han showed him, taking a piece of bamboo from his pack and throwing it over a fire the prince set up. Sui's train flared out once the bamboo burst in a loud explosion. He then asked the panda if he had the bamboo instrument, the valiha, with him for purchase."

"What's a va-?"

"It is a type of string instrument made like a tube and constructed from bamboo, though it came from Madagascar first."

"Did Han go to Madagascar?"

"He did once, yes, and that's where he learned how to make a valiha from bamboo."

"What did Sui want with that?"

"It was the first thing that came to Sui's mind that would be primarily a bamboo tube. He needed it for a quick test."

"With the gunp-er, 'fire chemical?'"

"Yes-Sui put his fire chemical inside the instrumental bamboo tube. After he and Han moved a fire outside the lab and into an empty clearing in the woods, and walked some distance away from it, Sui threw the gunpowder-stuffed bamboo into the fire."

Baojia flared out his own train for effect, and Shen bumped into his mother, who chuckled and smoothed down the crest feathers on his head.

"The bursting bamboo and the fire chemical combined made for a much stronger and louder explosion."

"Along with Sui, a company of his fellow peafowl clan members and a band of wolf guards, Han returned to his village to perfect the 'firecracker' and set a trap for Nian. Sui sent messengers to ask Master Oogway for help and to inform his parents of his intention, but not to call back their forces searching out Nian, lest the spirit began to suspect anything amiss."

"Han recruited more pandas, who helped cut down bamboo for the firecrackers. Sui continued experimenting, seeing how far he could go with adding more and more saltpeter before it could be too dangerous for his forces to use, what different shapes of bamboo would do for its power."

"Once Sui could remove the bandages from his face, he was left with an ugly scar. It frightened the panda children of the village. To calm them, the young prince asked if they would teach him how to fly their magnificent kites. The children enjoyed the thought of teaching their province's prince something, and so they eagerly showed Sui how to fly a kite, and were no longer afraid of him. More importantly, the sight of the panda children's kites flying in the sky inspired Sui to try making the firecrackers fly too."

"So then they'd be fireworks!"

"Yes Shen, so they can be fireworks then. Sui carved and fitted bamboo fins for the bamboo tubes to help keep their flight paths straight. He added fuses for more control. He found that certain chemical mixtures gave sparking color to the explosion, and hoped quick variations of that would help confuse and weaken Nian. The youngest prince set off the new firework into the air, to the delight of the panda children who witnessed such a feat. And though this was encouraging, neither Sui or Han or the rest were as enthused as the children, knowing that Nian still awaited them. Master Oogway's arrival lightened their mood though, especially when he was awed as much as the children by the fireworks."

"That spring, the trap was laid: panda farmers worked and waited for Nian to come for their crops and their lives. Sui, Han, Master Oogway and the rest of pandas and peafowl and wolves watched from afar, waiting for one of the farmers' signals. Once Nian finally struck, the farmers managed to light firecrackers to alert the others, and already their noise was rattling Nian. Sui, Han and the rest of their forces set their own fireworks into the sky, even louder and more powerful. Nian writhed at the noise and under their shifting colored light, so bright and sparking it blinded him."

"Master Oogway struck, faster than lightning, and Nian crumpled, Sui and Han and the rest moving forward with an iron net to hold the spirit. In a shout over the fireworks Sui told Nian to let his brother and sister go, and leave Gongmen Province, all of China and the whole world alone, or else the noise would not stop. Sui shouted his ultimatum over the fireworks, not daring to let them stop until the crisis averted, he'd made certain enough was made to keep the spirit at bay and to truly fool him into thinking the noise would go on forever."

"Nian roared, yet it was no match for the noise of the fireworks. Finally Nian agreed, releasing the eldest prince and princess. The iron net came off, and to this day, Nian has never attacked or made trouble again."

"But we keep setting off fireworks," Shen reminded his father.

Baojia nodded his head, smirking. "Just in case. And there are other spirits with an ill will, who've made us no promises of peace."

"Victorious, the fireworks were used for celebration, as the panda children first saw them as. The fireworks were so enjoyed, some were left at the panda village; some went back with Oogway to the Valley of Peace, where he eagerly showed them to the villagers there; of course some went back with Sui to Gongmen City; and eventually the new invention spread all over the province-even all of China-for everyone to celebrate and frighten off dark spirits with."

"Even with Nian defeated and his family reunited, Sui still experimented with fireworks," said Lady Fen. "He improved their design and made them until his dying day."

"And as for Han, along with having a new product to sell and a new renown to enjoy, his village and people are still honored by our clan today, as they honor us."

"Does the bamboo the factory gets now come from Han's village?" Shen asked. His parents nodded.

Shen wasn't done with his questions. "So…Sui never became emperor? Did I make a mistake?"

Baojia shook his head. "No, you did not. His older brother was emperor for a time once their parents passed, but he too died not long after. And as for his older sister, she had grown ill and passed even before her parents did. From there, Sui's line has continued uninterrupted, and now straight to you."

Shen fidgeted at that. His father had specified that Sui's older sister had grown ill and died, but just said his older brother died, leaving the boy with the impression that his ancestor had succumbed to an assassination attempt. If that was so, why couldn't his father come out and say it, he'd survived an attempt after all…though that was still a possibility regarding the truth…but it was so likely...

The white peacock actually tried to broach the subject, but the question evaporated on his tongue when the factory chief approached his parents, with the same manner council members and everyone had when they needed their Emperor and Empress right away.

Shen immediately withdrew. He busied himself with looking down at everyone working, silently going over the story he'd just heard, ignoring how Sui had to lose practically his whole family to eventually become Emperor and his own direct ancestor...

"Son, we'll leave you with the other children while we speak meet with the chief. It shouldn't take long," his father assured him.

"Other kids?"

"Yes, some had to go with their parents to work today-" and Shen followed his mother and father as they led him away.

They left him with a group of children and a frazzled goose worker with her wing in a sling assigned to watch them. The worker seemed more frazzled at the news that the prince would be in her temporary charge, and her eyes kept straying to his white plumage (the kids looked there too).

"We won't be long," Baojia repeated. "Be good."

###

"So, why are you white?"

"My mother ate too much snow," snapped Shen as he rolled his eyes, turning his back on the rabbit child.

A crowd of kids were closer to their temporary caretaker, while Shen was with another crowd that was farther away but still within her sight. They walked by the windows where they could see the city.

Another kid, a sheep, piped up, confused, "You can eat snow?"

"It's water-" Shen said with a scowl, then blinked, scowl gone, "-so, um, I guess you drink it then, actually."

"But if it's just water, then it's not really white, is it? Isn't water blue? And you're, y'know, _not_, like you're supposed to be."

An antelope snapped, "No, water's all clear and see-through-"

"I thought it was green-"

Shen walked further away from them, his wings folded and growing impatient. These kids were like practically everyone else, just gaping or retreating, and asking him dumb questions about his color or making obnoxiously loud comments about it. He just wanted to go home now and punch the training doll in the kung fu hall.

The white peacock came to an abrupt halt as something flew by him fast, his train fanning out in surprise. They were dark shapes, with glowing gold eyes-he relaxed when he realized it was just some black sheep playing tag. (No assassin would show up here. But he'd thought no assassin would ever be in his room. He actually didn't remember knowing what an assassin was before, he didn't think he'd ever learned before.)

"Can you really fly with this?" A pig child asked Shen, actually touching his tail feathers-only for like a second before the prince snapped them away and whirled around on the idiot, about to shout at him to mind his own dumb business-

He felt his tail smack something, and then a horrible scream squeeze tight around his heart and practically dislodge it.

Shen completed his turn and along with everyone else saw a rabbit child fall from the factory. Apparently he'd been too close to the window, too close to Shen and his train, still apparently big enough and unwieldy enough when fanning out suddenly due to stupid, stupid instinct and emotion; tail feathers that snapped out strong and fast enough to...

There were more screams from the spectators, and their temporary caretaker; Shen stared and stared-then he dashed forward and dove, opening his wings and tail feathers. His voice was dead in his throat, it felt like it ran off, that mental block or whatever it was had returned and Shen felt like he'd never speak again. His eye bugged out, shocked as he actually stayed aloft and glided-they widened more when the rabbit kid just fell faster while he remained up.

Shen immediately shut his wings and he dropped again. Even with the wind screaming all around, he still remained mute, utterly terrified.

Somehow, maybe by some miracle, some luck, he caught up with the rabbit kid and his talons grasped his shirt tight. Shen opened his wings again and straightened out his train and concentrated on every movement of his body to stay aloft. It was working, he was gliding, even with the other child clutched in his talons-sure, he wasn't straight no matter how he tried, he was bobbing up and down, but, but…but he should really decide where he should land, Baba and Mama never said anything about landing, oh gods-

Starting to panic, Shen scanned the rushing horizon and ground and buildings-buildings, building, oh gods, avoid the wall-

Shen and the rabbit child crashed through the open window into some room. They insanely, miraculously landed into a bed piled high with blankets and pillows that softened the blow. And there was a body. Someone jerked beneath them, an old sheep that screamed bloody murder when she got up and saw the two small intruders.

Lord Baojia glided to the window seconds after and calmed the old woman down as his son and the other child lay frozen with eyes wide, shocked.

###

Despite the insanely luckily landing site on the bed, the rabbit child and Shen still had gotten bruises and both twisted their ankles, though Shen had also dislocated his shoulder.

Baojia had dealt with that quickly in one of the empty rooms of the old sheep's house. He tore off part of his robe, tightly wound it into a twisted rope and made Shen bite down on it.

"Stay still now. I'll push it back in place. This will hurt," was all Baojia said. Shen watched his father with wide, baffled eyes as his father held him and took his dislocated wing and shoulder and-

Shen squeezed his eyes shut and screamed into the gag, biting down so hard he thought his beak would break.

"It's done," said Baojia, but Shen still screamed around his gag and ground his beak against it. He caved into his father's shoulder, shivering and crying all over his father's fine robes.

Baojia held him still and stroked his trembling back, almost like Nana.

Fen joined them downstairs, having glided to the building too. She carried the rabbit child, while Baojia carried their son back to the fireworks factory. The old woman was left with some monetary compensation for the unexpected disturbance to her home.

###

"_He knocked him down_!"

"I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to, it was an accident, I didn't-" Shen broke off his cracking, shaky voice, staring at the accusing pig child and noticing the other kids look at him with that same accusation, that same fear, all of that echoed in their parents, even the rest of the factory workers, infecting the air all around him. For a moment, Shen felt he couldn't breath, and wished he was falling through the rushing air to his possible death again, rather than face this.

His mother had given the rabbit to his relieved parents.

"My Lord and Lady, it's my fault, I should've been watching a-all of them more closely," the temporary factory caretaker said, bowing and prostrating herself on the ground as best she could with her broken wing.

Lord Baojia stared at her long and hard, and finally said he would leave it up to the factory chief to decide what to do with her.

Apparently Baojia felt he only had the right authority over Shen in this context.

"You could've _**killed**_ someone!" Baojia finally burst out once they were back at home, and Shen shrank back as Nana held him.

Mama-mother had to-the minute they got home a council member said they were ready to start the meeting, as they had planned to do after the factory tour. Shen saw some silent communication pass between his parents, and Lady Fen had gone to the meeting that seemed so ever important, representing her husband as well as herself. So it was just Shen and his father and the Soothsayer in the throne room.

"But it was an accident!" Shen tried to explain, pulling away from the Soothsayer as he instinctively reached out for his father and his understanding. "Baba, please, I didn't mean-"

Baojia swiftly moved back, still blinded by his own fury and frustration. Shen flinched back, falling back against the Soothsayer and trembling even more. He hid his face in her robes, and only heard his father's angry voice.

"You are a growing peacock, Shen, you have to be aware of your train and your surroundings, especially in crowds and at such a height-"

"I didn't know, Baba, I really didn't-!"

"It's common sense, did I have to spell that out for you too?"

_As if you're ever around for that_! But the thought went nowhere, Shen kept his beak shut, it was all he could do to keep from sobbing as the stupid tears fell all over, soaking the Soothsayer's robes.

"That's enough, my Lord!" Shen couldn't see, but he knew Nana was angry. He couldn't remember ever hearing her so angry before. "He's only a child."

"That's no excuse!" Baojia's voice rang out, and Shen began to breath very heavily.

"He is _**five**_, my Lord, you expect too much from him-"

"Indeed I do." Baojia's voice was so low and cold, the implication, the rejection-Shen fought out of the Soothsayer's embrace and ran out of the throne room, not sparing a glance back.

A heavy silence hung about the room between the old goat and the blue peacock.

"He also saved the child, Baojia. He glided when it counted most. Does that mean nothing to you?"

The Gongmen Emperor's eyes held no real expression as the Soothsayer glared at him, but his tail feathers fell back down, his train dragging behind as he went after his son.

###

"Shen."

Any other time, his father calling to him would've sent the boy running to the older peacock's side, eager and thirsty for his attention, but now just the sound of his voice made him hurt all over and his throat choke with anger.

The young prince ran faster, wanting to get away from his father, from everyone; he just wanted to disappear where he didn't have to feel anything ever again...

The boy's eyes were still fuzzy with tears. Approaching the stairs, he slipped and fell. Before he could slam against a step, his father swept forward and held him in his wings. Shen still struggled, hissing and kicking. His father was unaffected as ever, calmly setting him back down on the floor. Shen shoved at his stupidly blue chest for good measure, then began to stomp away. Baojia took a long stride to step before his son.

"Shen."

The boy turned his back on Baojia again. His father gripped his shoulder and spoke before he could roughly pull away.

"You saved that boy. You glided to do it, although you weren't able to before. You did what had to be done." Shen's small frame had gone very still in Baojia's grasp. "I'm sorry I ignored that, son."

Shen furiously scrubbed at his eyes, panting. Giving up on finishing that first, the boy turned to his father, still wiping away the tears from his eyes. "That's okay, Baba." It seemed like the thing to say. When he'd say sorry to Nana or An, they'd usually say it was "all right" afterward.

Something twitched in his father's face, then he swept Shen in a tight and immediate hug. The boy froze in his wings, shocked.

"It is my fault, not yours. I should've prepared you better, your mother and I should not have left you..."

Shen was in shock for a minute before he finally, gratefully sank into his father's embrace.

###

It was the winter festival today, and Shen wondered about Master Thundering Rhino. His teacher had confided in him, with a sly tone, that the feast at the Jade Palace was terribly formal and boring as it strove for perfection.

The boy wondered if it was any better than the mornings of the winter festival for the peacock clan's royal family.

Shen had started on the morning of the holiday last year, sharing even just a little bit in the responsibility of his parents as they took him to the ancestral temple for worship. They'd had him trained for it, and here he was again, sitting still and being quiet, bowed with his forehead pressed against the cool floor along with his mother and father. But they also presented the spirits with food, drink and faux money made of coarse bamboo paper; and they started the burning of incense and candles. Shen found their mingling scent nauseating, unlike the Soothsayer's.

But afterward, even the royals truly celebrated, and from what Master Thundering Rhino said, it was the complete opposite of the Winter Feast at the Jade Palace, even more lively than what the Valley commoners got up to. Shen had once overheard visitors to Gongmen City remark in scandalized tones how raucous they all were when it came to festivities. When he'd shared their remark with An, the older boy had said they were probably country folk and just proudly boasted that Gongmen City knew how to party, what with it being the firework capitol and all (another moniker for his home that Shen had heard before too).

Such celebration was infectious for the royals too, apparently-from them to the most common, dances and games and various foods and lots and lots of firecrackers and sparklers and fireworks swept Gongmen City up in a frenzy. Shen knew of this energy that consumed his entire home, but he'd never actually been to the city himself during such partying. He'd only observed it from the tower's balconies and from within the curtained palanquin that took he and his parents to and from the ancestral temple. The boy thought of requesting to go down, to see and enjoy-but he was already taken by the thought of the festivities at the tower, time with his parents and the Soothsayer.

It was already a dizzying pace of activity there.

Shen added An to his painting of the Soothsayer, Baba and Mama on his new sun lantern, something he proudly showed his parents and Nana, who hung it up to dry and lit the light in it when it was ready. The white peacock learned An made sun lanterns too with his family, and he admired the older boy's rendition of one of their training exercises looking for Shen in the snow. The boys played games, wrestling with the rest of the wolf cubs.

Shen played darts with his parents, while in the same room the Soothsayer played mahjong against one of his parents' other advisors, the rabbit Qin. The boy admired his parents' pinpoint accuracy, and felt his own worth bolstered when he found that he grew steadily better at hitting the target.

And then there was the feast, with dumplings and tangyuan in their soup bowls at the center of the dining table. Gods, Shen loved tangyuan. His parents, the Soothsayer, Storming Ox and Master Croc and Qin and all the other grown-ups of rank in attendance drank fine rice wine. When Shen had snuck to the barracks to share more tangyuan (so delicious!) and dessert with An and his kin, he'd blinked at the difference with the grown-ups and their wine there, more lively and flushed and talking and howling at the top of their lungs, while An and the other cubs played under their feet.

An and Shen slipped away from a game of tag with the other wolf cubs, sneaking into the kitchens. An was seized by the idea that they'd try the fine rice wine Shen spoke of as he commented on how different his parents and the other grown-ups were at their table in one of the tower's grand dining halls. The boys did their best to slip past the cooks and servants kicking back to enjoy the winter feast themselves, but the Soothsayer had poked her head in and called them out.

"Did you know what we were going to do?" An blurted out, none too gracefully.

"Yes I did," the old goat said, not missing a beat, and the older wolf cub looked so disturbed, it made Shen laugh.

"The fireworks will be starting," said the old goat, and soon An's older cousin Jin came calling for the older boy, telling him that same fact. An went with his cousin while Shen ran ahead with his nanny, each of the boys about to watch the show with their own families.

The white peacock and the old goat went to the throne room balcony where his parents were. At this time the Soothsayer would try to withdraw and give Shen more alone time with his mother and father-as ever, it never worked. Before when Shen had been too little and so fussy in Lady Fen's wings, the Soothsayer held him while the fireworks went on and careful to sit close to his parents, the boy even playing and nibbling on their wing tips as he watched the sky light up and crackle, docile as long as he was in the old goat's arms. And even when he started walking, Shen would do as he did now-take the Soothsayer's hoof and pull her ahead with him alongside his parents as the fireworks started (assuming of course he hadn't fallen ill, but even then it was made certain the boy could see from his window, if he was conscious for it).

Between his parents and nanny, Shen leaned against the balcony, quietly and happily watching the fireworks explode. Usually he'd ask question after question about how it all worked and all the different possibilities, but at the moment the young prince couldn't think of any, especially with the disastrous fireworks factory tour not too long ago, something he didn't want to think about, not tonight. He just wanted to watch the sparking lights enfold him away from all troubles, with the presence of the Soothsayer and his father and mother standing solidly and comfortably over him.

For a moment, Shen felt supremely safe and cared for, even completely loved, as the fiery and shifting light washed over his white feathers, for once coloring him and making him unlike a dead, weak thing.

Revised A/N: Next time should be time skip to five years later. Now this is a transition to time skip I'm more satisfied with.

Above were some references to another DreamWorks' film, "How To Train Your Dragon" and again Disney's "Tarzan" and the original animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" if you could catch it.

And another thing being revised-I've changed my mind a little on titles for Gongmen's rulers, since I believe 'Lord' and 'Lady' is too much of a title that can be applied to a lot of others of high rank. And I'm rather missing calling our favorite white peacock 'Lord Shen,' though I think 'Prince Shen' has a nice ring to it stil. I've seen it in some other fic, so I'm going with Shen's parents being the Emperor and Empress of Gongmen City/Province, who are also called Lord Baojia and Lady Fen, as when Prince Shen can still be called Lord Shen. (I may or may not go back to previous chapters to revise this admittedly minor detail.)

There's more young Shen fanart! See Deviantart galleries by Bat-Snake, JoJoLover123, Apofiss, gothicorca1895, mr-oh, MetaKnights1Luver, and Cryssy-miu (also a writer here with neat Lord Shen fic, see my favorites for one of them).

And check out the Devianart gallery by dertar for fanart of Shen's parents.

Found info about Nian, firecrackers, fireworks, valiha, the winter festival (Dong Zhi), and tangyuanonline.

Comrade: Yes, I had been on vacation, and it was a blast! Glad you enjoyed last chapter (and this one too!).

Jazzy Jazz: Thank you!

Thanks again for reading, and please review/comment, I love the feedback!


	8. Q & A

Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen

Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 8. Q & A: Shen's education continues, from sparring to gemstones.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.

Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.

EDIT A/N: Important: this chapter was revised a little, thanks to neat suggestions from Nevar Morts and mildirk.

Always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible.

I'm gonna try to individually reply to all your kind reviews with 's handy PM feature (except for users not signed in, since that feature's not available with them—those responses are at the bottom here).

Also, I have another Shen-centric KFP fic, "Change the Fate's Design," if anyone wants to check it out and leave a review. It should be in continuity with this fic (up to a point).

Q & A

The Soothsayer fought back the instinct to wince as the 10-year-old prince skidded on the floor of the courtyard again.

As a young girl she'd go with the other children to watch the warriors of her mountain village spar. When she started to serve the peacock clan, she would come to them and their allies with certain matters, even when they sparred in the courtyard; sometimes she would sit and wait them out after entreating them to stop did nothing, and finally ended up having tea while she waited and saving some for them; and ended up keenly observing them as she had before in her own village. Eventually the Soothsayer would simply go out and watch them train, sometimes with tea for them and herself, sometimes without. Kung Fu could be truly beautiful to her eyes even at this age; and even in a roundabout way it soothed and cleared her mind, like some indirect meditation, especially in such a place as the tower's courtyard, something of simple elegance and serenity to her. And the goat found that by watching them fight she'd have a better understanding of their current mood, for her own effectiveness at court. It also provided a certain amount of closeness to particular warriors she grew fond of, such as her lord and lady, though they sparred in the courtyard less and more in a private training hall; and Masters Storming Ox, Croc, Thundering Rhino—now young Shen recently, sometimes with An.

But right now it wasn't so much soothing, even though Shen had been sparring with Master Thundering Rhino since he turned seven, and it was not the first time the Soothsayer had watched him. The old goat had no tea, but the ever-present healer's kit in her satchel.

The old goat kept her face impassive as she watched Shen snap back up, tried not to let her eyes stray to the additional bruises and cuts on his legs and elbow, the cloth of his sleeve there ripped open. The white peacock raised his staff and struck at Thundering Rhino again.

The Kung Fu master easily side stepped, but made no move. Again and again he remained on the swift evasive as the prince struck faster and harder without hitting his target, determined to land a hit. He constantly leapt to gain some height. In mid-leap, the boy flared out his growing tail feathers in Thundering Rhino's face, then stroke down for the master's shoulder. It hit-but the rhino rolled with the force, grabbing the staff and Shen's wing tip upon it. His master moved too fast, Shen didn't have time to even comprehend what was about to happen, let alone try to counter it or break his fall. Thundering Rhino made the boy and the weapon continue further with their force, tossing him back down on the ground over his shoulder with the child's own momentum. As always, the master retained his control, as he did with any student—and with any student, he wished to train the prince in endurance.

This time Shen lost his grip on the staff as he hit the stone floor and tumbled before coming to a stop. The small form did not immediately rise, his back facing the Kung Fu master and the seer. The Soothsayer thought the prince may've lost consciousness like the last time he and Thundering Rhino had sparred. But he coughed, and the old goat was fairly certain that was a cough from consciousness, not unconsciousness, she thought she'd have some idea of the difference by now. That, and Thundering Rhino said, "Get up."

The white peacock struggled, coughed again, then slumped back down.

"Shen. Get up." The rhino thumped his cloud hammer's handle against the ground, his eyes searching and observant, all his senses on edge. He had to judge particularly well with this student's physical status, knowing exactly when to push and when to withdraw. He was certain he could push at this moment. "An enemy would not give you this much time."

Shen squeezed his eyes shut, then took a shuddering breath and tried again. Every muscle protested and his head ached, but Master Thundering Rhino believed he could do this; he didn't think he'd cave because of a couple of bruises and cuts and coughs, and he wouldn't, he'd meet his master's expectations...

The boy stood back up on shaky legs, gasping for breath. Then he made a run for his staff. He withdrew as Thundering Rhino blocked him, kicking the staff away slightly. Shen swallowed; evidently he'd still taken too long for his master. The boy bent down deeper into his crouch as he tried to strategize the best way to grab his staff.

Finally Shen thought, 'stuff it,' and just ran forward. He flashed his tail feathers, but it backfired this time as he didn't pull away in time and Thundering Rhino's kick pinned them to the ground, though not as harsh as he could have. Still, his master would not let him off easily for rushing ahead like that without much thought or even skilled instinct or intuition. Unable to move much with his train pinned, Shen did his best to block the handle of Thundering Rhino's cloud hammer, knowing he'd strike. The older warrior made sure to remove his hoof from the boy's train just before he struck, he did not want the feathers to tear or badly bend. Shen tried to take advantage of his free train, lowering his attempt at a block as he tried to doge—but his master struck too fast. His lowered guard crumpled easily, and the boy was knocked back down again, but he got back up quicker than last time. He would not be deterred again.

Panting, Shen rethought things. Then he ran forward with at least a semi-plan in mind. The boy was lucky his master struck out with his hammer. Shen jumped and immediately ran up it. Just as the rhino started to move, Shen reached his shoulder and flashed his tail feathers in his face and a little bit against his neck, slightly tickling. Shen jumped off his briefly distracted (and impressed) master, landed in a roll and grabbed his staff. Just in time to raise it and deflect a handle strike from Thundering Rhino's cloud hammer.

The Soothsayer watched the prince and the Kung Fu master continue sparring until the older warrior declared that was all for the day. The two bowed to each other, Shen more stiffly. Thundering Rhino flashed the boy a proud smirk, nodded to the Soothsayer, then left to check if Masters Storming Ox and Croc had returned yet from their latest mission. Shen's smile was a small, tired thing, but there nonetheless, even as the Soothsayer tended to his cuts and bruises and such with stinging ointment and bandages.

"So…did Ba and Ma say-?"

"Nothing yet about letting you have one of those old labs for your own use."

Shen frowned, and asked, "How come they're old, Nana?"

"What's wrong with age, dear?" The old goat teased, unwrapping apples from her satchel once Shen was taken care of. She had not brought tea, but snacks at least. She laid the apples out on a kerchief and began slicing them with her knife.

Shen rolled his eyes, exasperated. "Not what I meant, Nana. It's just-" he began to gesture, but winced as he put too much strain on his scrapes and bruises. "I mean, no one in the royal family's really used them, not for a long time. Isn't that weird? Our ancestor invented fireworks, and no one's really working in his labs anymore..."

"Per tradition, your parents learned how to craft fireworks, and that was at the factory; and that's where they, and those before them, always worked at when it came to working with fireworks themselves," said the Soothsayer as she chopped, and Shen's eyes irresistibly went to the knife edge and the apples' red skin. "But even that, they don't do much anymore, not since Lord Baojia took the throne. Your parents, like their predecessors since Emperor Sui's time, are very devoted to the daily management of the province."

"No kidding," Shen muttered. He quietly thanked the Soothsayer when she handed him an apple slice.

She put her knife away. "I'm afraid the royal family's experimented less and less, as ruling the province has taken full priority. That could explain the shift to the fireworks factory, and why the court's labs remain unused."

Shen swallowed his bit of apple, holding half a slice left. Thoughtful, he said, "But they've still improved fireworks designs over the years."

"That they have," agreed the Soothsayer as she ate her own apple slice, then a bite from the kerchief itself.

###

After the snacks with Nana, Shen went to the barracks looking for An. He wanted to see the wolf teen before meeting with his government tutor. The white peacock checked the wolf guards' training halls. He almost bypassed one that looked empty, until he heard An's snicker mingling with a girl's laughter. Shen walked in, narrowing his eyes-there, he saw a tail wag from the shadows against a pillar. He approached An and the other wolf, about to call to him-but Shen's voice momentarily vanished as he saw An and the girl (what was her name again? ) being…really weird. They were nuzzling and all giggly, taking turns rubbing their heads on each other's cheek, mouthing each other's muzzles, their noses touching, and their paws were going everywhere, up tunics and down-

"An?" Shen finally asked, a bit alarmed and totally baffled. But Shen soon had to shove back the urge to laugh himself as An jumped away from the girl as if he'd been burned. The girl herself was frozen stiff and staring with wide eyes. An whirled around on Shen, his tail low.

"Oh, Sh-Prince Shen-er, what's up?"

The white peacock just shrugged. "I was just looking for you. What were you-?"

"I'll see you later, An," the girl said abruptly, unfreezing and leaving. But at the doorway she froze for a split second, then turned around and bowed to Shen, murmuring, "My Lord." Shen inclined his head, perplexed, but she was gone before he'd even finished the gesture.

The younger boy blinked, turning to the older wolf. "Um, what was that about-?"

An rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, that?" He barked out a laugh that sounded very strained. "Just guy stuff. Nothin' for you to-"

Shen frowned, reminding his friend, "I'm a guy-"

"_Older_ guy stuff."

"You're just three years older than me."

"Hey, thirteen's a big deal, I get to actually patrol-"

Shen scoffed, "You were doing that before-"

Both boys stopped as An's mother, Fang, entered. She looked fierce. Shen noticed An's ears flatten against his head and his tail lower back down, way back down. She swiftly strode over to her son, who did his best not to flinch back. Shen stayed; it was all just happening fast, and he didn't want to leave An, he'd just found him. But he still regarded the two wolves with apprehension, even as he tried to politely ignore their exchange.

Fang growled, still a bit taller than her son, though he was almost to her height, and her mate's. "Your scent was all over that girl-"

"Not _all_ over-"

"This is not the first time-"

"Thought you're supposed to be stalking enemies to the city, _not_ your own son!"

"You both make it too obvious."

"Look, Ma-"

"I swear, if she's with child-"

"_Ma_!" And the teen wolf's eyes flashed to Shen, looking totally unsure and wondering if he should leave. He hadn't been able to politely ignore anything at all.

Fang sighed. She was getting too used to the prince's presence, he was not one of the pack's cubs.

"We'll talk about this later," Fang said, ignoring the mutinous look still in An's eyes. She nodded to Shen. "My prince." Shen nodded back as she left.

Finally Shen looked up at An and asked, "Is that how wolves have cubs? They…cuddle?"

An stared at Shen. The prince had no idea why, but the older boy sounded absolutely terrified when he asked a flat, cracking, "What?"

Shen's brow furrowed. "Well, I know you guys don't have eggs."

"…What?"

An seemed particularly, weirdly slow at the moment. Then Shen wondered if An was just wondering where eggs came from. The prince continued, trying to duplicate the Soothsayer's patient voice, "Eggs come from peacocks dropping gemstones, that peahens then pick up. And that's when peahens have eggs, and babies hatch from them. But since wolves don't hatch from eggs, you guys have babies differently, right?"

"I-er, no?"

Shen tilted his head. "You guys use gemstones too?"

"…Yes."

The white peacock finally narrowed his eyes. He could tell when An was lying-An was a horrible at it. Not that he tried to lie much. And admittedly, Shen wasn't sure if he was much good at lying either. He wasn't motivated to try that often, and the boy was just a bit too afraid the Soothsayer would always see right through him.

"An-" The prince began, but stopped as An's ears twitched and turned around to the doorway.

Jie poked her head in, her ears twitching. "Ah, there you are, prince. Your tutor's looking for you."

Shen groaned. An blew a sigh of relief.

Jie grimaced, ignoring An and favoring her prince with a sympathetic look. "I know, the guy's a real jerk."

"He's boring and tedious and just-" Shen groaned again as he followed Jie, An trailing behind him. But once they met up with his government tutor, Shen really understood Jie. His tutor didn't say anything, but he looked down his sheep's snout at the surrounding wolves and the barracks, looking deeply offended. Shen wasn't quite sure what wasn't being said or if he was just looking at stuff too hard, but something about his tutor's silent manner in the wolves' barracks made his stomach clench, mad.

"Come, my lord," his tutor said, and began trotting off.

Shen stood his ground, saying, "Thank Jie."

An and the wolf girl shot a look down at their prince.

The sheep turned around, confused and exasperated. "Who?"

"Jie," Shen gritted her name out. "She's the one who found me for you. You didn't even know her name?"

"I was in a rush, my lord," his tutor said coolly. "And I do not often come by the wolves' barracks to know each by name."

The prince supposed there was nothing inherently wrong in the wording, but there was still something obnoxious, impolite and superior about the tone. It made Shen glare.

Just as coolly, the adult sheep did thank Jie, and she stiffly nodded back. An and Jie said good-bye to Shen, as did he, along with his thanks,

and soon the younger boy followed his tutor back to the tower.

###

That government lesson was so tense and intolerable, Shen was even gladder to get out of it once he could. He went looking for his father or mother or both, a question burning in his mind. Shen thought that maybe he should try asking around more first, his parents would probably be too busy…but still the boy felt a very peculiar desire to hear what they had to say. Maybe it's because they were the only peafowl in all of Gongmen City. The white peacock found his father first, walking down the hall, probably heading for the throne room or a meeting or something. Shen sped up, thinking if he caught him right now, he could get an answer. Once at the older peacock's side, the boy wasted no time with his question.

"Father, where do babies come from?"

Lord Baojia immediately stopped walking, and so did Shen, stumbling a little as his father had stopped so suddenly. The Gongmen Emperor looked down at his son.

"…You're asking this _now_?"

Shen rolled his eyes.

"I asked Nana when I was five, and she told me that you-the peacock-drops a gemstone, and mother-the peahen-picks the jewel up, and then she has the egg and the baby-me, in this case."

It was the standard story peafowl told their very young children when they asked that inevitable question. But Lord Baojia was still unsettled. It was not he or Fen that told him, but the Soothsayer; Shen had asked her, not them; and they had never thought about it in all this time, had never approached the boy themselves about this topic. Gods, they should've told him at least two years ago.

"But when I told An, he gave me a funny look. I asked him if wolf cubs were different 'cause they don't have eggs, and he said no, but..." Shen's talons shuffled. "Well, where do babies come from? Is Nana right?"

Baojia turned away, eyeing the staircase.

"Your mother and I will tell you after dinner tonight."

Shen blinked. "You're not working late?"

"Not tonight," Baojia said, ready to postpone the meeting. To hell with the council and everything else at the moment, just for this one night.

The boy's eagerness did nothing to make the painful twinge in Baojia's chest abate.

###

"How was dinner, my Prince?" The Soothsayer asked as the young peacock stiffly returned to their quarters.

Shen mumbled something that might've been "okay," then asked in a curiously high and strained voice, "What about you? You and Master Thundering Rhino, Croc and Storming Ox went out to the city tonight for dinner, right? To celebrate Ox and Croc's safe return?"

"Yes, we tried a new place that opened-are you quite all right, dear?" The Soothsayer asked, putting down her mending of the prince's clothes that she had nibbled into. The boy had stiffly plopped into his bed and practically ripped open a scroll that his eyes now rapidly darted across.

When Shen noticed the old goat put her mending away, he groaned and buried his face in a cushion, throwing the scroll away. But his muffled voice was quite audible; "Baba and Mama told me where babies came from…they said that not everyone comes from eggs, but how it…happens, is roughly the same..."

The Soothsayer's chuckle just made him groan deeper, never mind the soothing way she patted his head and the crest feathers on it.

A/N: I forgot to mention it last time, but I think the peacock clan is fairly old, and it was an ancestor of Shen and his parents that invented fireworks. However, in bat-snake's story on Deviantart, it's written that his parents invented fireworks—and given the KFP2 prologue, I think that interpretation works just as well as mine. Bat-snake's storie(s) also have a similar origin behind the peafowl's fireworks with a demon's involvement in it, etc.

Most of the peafowl reproduction story was something I remember reading in a book on India, in its section on Indian Peafowl.

Comrade: Thank you for your loyalty and the praise. :D

Thanks again for reading, and please review/comment, I love the feedback!


	9. big brother's not watching

Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen

Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 9. big brother's not watching: Even at his age, Shen must find his future bride. It's the last thing on his mind.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.

Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.

A/N: Always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible.

I'm gonna try to individually reply to all your kind reviews with 's handy PM feature (except for users not signed in, since that feature's not available with them—those responses are at the bottom here).

Also, I have another Shen-centric KFP fic, "Change the Fate's Design," if anyone wants to check it out and leave a review. It should be in continuity with this fic (up to a point).

big brother's not watching

Not long after their son had continued to live, and Gongmen's rulers had caught the Soothsayer calling him "Shen"-a name they officially recognized in birth records-their rabbit advisor Qin had broached the subject of marriage. Qin was a practical creature. The prince would live-and thank gods for that, for it had not escaped Qin's long ears that neither his Lord nor Lady could conceive again. And in light of the infant's unique circumstances and the province's less than stellar reaction to it, planning for the continuation of the peacock clan's royal line had to start immediately.

But for all of Qin's planning and growing willingness to break a few rules here and there to find a match, things were not going well.

"_Prince Shen_-"

"It's just mud, Nana!"

"You _knew_ you were to meet Mee today!" The Soothsayer distractedly but precisely passed a cup of tea to Qin, who seemed close to fainting.

"So what? She's just gonna be like all the rest-"

The boy held his tongue at the look the Soothsayer shot him, and obediently followed her for a quickly drawn bath.

Qin sat down and downed the tea in one gulp, then poured himself another cup. Really, it was less the boy's dirtiness just before another suitor appointment, and more how right his words were.

For all of Qin's efforts-his reminders of fortune and power when marrying into the royal family, his entreaties to their responsibility to help continue the royal line, et cetera-so far all the noble peacock families within the clan were still wary, disgusted and downright terrified of the white prince. The whole province shared in that fear still.

_Who knew we were all this superstitious?_, the old rabbit thought with a frown as he poured his third cup, remembering the meeting with Mee and her family.

All his senses and intuition had been on edge to read every sign-and what he read was not good. Mee's parents were still reluctant and disturbed, and Mee herself could sense that, and was starting to panic. It was only natural-how could a child be expected to be calm over something if her own parents weren't?

Not for the first time, Qin wondered if he should rethink this strategy of trying to find a future fiancé for Shen that he could grow comfortable with, and she with him. He'd thought if they caught the girl young, she could be reached before prejudice set in, and could see the prince for just the boy he was, and a potential companion despite everything else. Gods, just friends-just childhood friends, that's all Qin wanted. It would've been something to build on.

He remembered it was the same with Shen's parents. Lord Baojia and Lady Fen had met young and became friends since childhood-though admittedly they'd met outside of any marriage planning, and truthfully the rules were slightly bent and their union allowed since Fen was a suitable match in class. It was all chalked up to them finding each other before any official appointments could be set up, and of course the matchmaker would've paired them off either way.

But with Shen…it was different. Everything was different. No one at court had ever dealt with anything like this before. The suitor in question always seemed to have absorbed too much of her parents' and their people's ill sentiment regarding the prince, negating Qin's hopes.

But if they worked too late-what if no one would have the prince then? Qin knew his Lord and Lady could always force a union, but the rabbit didn't want it to come to that. Qin feared such a show of power and control could set off another, more damaging panic in the province if they grew to fear their rulers turning despotic.

No, though it was unusual to try to be this sensitive about matchmaking and to bend these many rules, Qin hoped to find a somewhat reciprocal match that would develop more gradually into something concrete.

"Now my prince, remember your manners," the Soothsayer warned her charge as they stepped out, Shen in a new red robe and clean again.

"I will if she does," Shen grumbled. He squawked as the old goat roughly plucked out a small feather.

Qin quietly put down his cup and led the prince to the guest hall, trying to calm his nerves.

###

Shen thought a meal with his parents would be much more enjoyable if it was just them. He had to be even more controlled and careful with the matchmaker, Mee and her family at the table. And it felt like he barely saw or even spoke with his parents. Which was the case actually, Baba and Mama spoke more with Mee's parents in a very polite and boring conversation, and the matchmaker would occasionally join in. The matchmaker would also ask him and Mee a couple of simple, personal questions too, though not too personal-they weren't so hard to answer.

But Mee... Shen had been told she was ten too, but she was bigger than him still. He was embarrassed, and thought that if this was all supposed to end in marriage, Mee couldn't be impressed with a husband smaller than she. Of course, he was only to be married to produce an heir, a baby, and before he'd thought Baba and Mama would give him a gemstone to drop since it was their line he had to continue, but now he…his train was supposed to...

Shen's eye twitched and he focused on eating his noodles. He tried to avoid Mee's eye. The girl kept staring at him. Really, she _was_ like all the rest; Qin had been trying to find peahens his own age, and all of them were bigger, and with wide eyes that stared...

But Mee wore this large bead necklace, and Shen could tell she felt really uncomfortable with it. Her wingtips fidgeted and almost flew up to fiddle with the fine jewelry. The prince felt bad for her, momentarily; he didn't like it much when he was fussed over for things like this too. It was better with Nana though-in comparison, Qin sometimes let a whole group of servants come to pick and prod, rinse and wash and scrub down, robe and disrobe as they decided what the best thing to wear was. At least Nana was relatively clinical and quick about it, like today-though it helped that he played with An and Jie's younger siblings for however long he wanted in the mud after another fresh rain. The boy assumed that Qin had dismissed the servant caravan dedicated to nitpicking when he'd refused to come on time. Nana probably helped with that too, she'd never exactly approved of the nitpickers, and was pretty good at handling Qin. She was actually pretty good at handling a lot of people.

Shen tried not to fidget now that it was apparently time for the weird tea thing that would happen at other suitor appointments-Mama poured Baba's cup, Mee's mother poured her husband's cup, and Mee would copy them and pour his own.

Shen thought it odd because he and the older men could've done it themselves, and it didn't feel like how Nana would do—or had done it for him. More often when they were by themselves, he tended to pour his own tea now. He had told Nana he was old enough, said he wouldn't make a mess like she'd fretted about.

The odd tea ritual had been sort of explained to him before the very first suitor appointment he had when he was six, but Shen still didn't really understand it or appreciate its worth. He thought that about a lot of etiquette rules and other social, courtly niceties.

The prince deftly moved to avoid any falling tea as Mee spilled a little. She looked horribly embarrassed, giving a small dismayed squawk. Shen quickly took up his napkin and mopped up the mess, as did Mee. As they quickly cleaned before the grown-ups could do anything or a servant came up, Shen's wing touched Mee's. She flinched back, but didn't squawk. She did knock over the whole tea pot though.

Shen stared at her for a moment (_he should stare at someone else for a change_), then quickly folded his wings in his lap and kept them there as a servant finally came forward to clean up the whole mess and refill the teapot. The boy looked straight ahead and tried not to show any emotion, while Mee had her head down. He tried to ignore the small whisper of fabric twisting as her wings clenched in her lap.

The children choked down the rest of the meal. Neither felt very hungry anymore.

###

Now Shen and Mee were sent out to play, while their parents talked more. Still the children were escorted, by servants and the matchmaker this time, though lately they'd taken pains to keep their distance. But Shen's feeling of being watched persisted, he'd grown used to the sensation; and he'd grown to hate that feeling too, the roving eye.

The prince and the nobles' daughter walked the grounds, neither saying a word. Shen felt as awkward as ever, and he thought Mee did too. Though he also noticed that she didn't walk too close to him.

The boy searched for something to say. He didn't like awkward silences going on like this. And he was supposed to "court" the girl, as Qin said when the old rabbit thought the prince wasn't around to hear. The Soothsayer called it his chance to make more friends. What did they say he should do in situations like this? He'd been given advice, but again that all flew out of his mind in the heat of the moment. And it didn't help his memory when the image of An and that teen she-wolf groping in the dark cropped up in his mind, along with his father's words about the peacock's train...

Shen shook himself. He eyed Mee's necklace again. "Is it heavy?"

The girl shot him a questioning look, but kept silent still.

Shen clarified, "Y-your necklace, is it heavy?"

Even if they were watched, those eyes were farther away, and at least the girl seemed to have somewhat felt the illusion of privacy (sometimes even Shen was fooled, like now, he was starting to pretend). Mee's wingtips freely shot up and began fiddling with the jewelry, no longer restrained by a meal with their parents.

"N-no, it's not," Mee muttered, starting to look a little put out.

"Really? It looks like it would. It's pretty-"

Shen did not notice the way the girl's eyes momentarily lit up and forgot their frost; he was too fixated on really examining her necklace.

"-clunky-looking." Nor did the boy notice her deflate. Granted, her dismay only lasted a second, replaced by something else-anger.

"Of course you'd think that-it'd probably make you drop from even holding it!" Mee snapped, shooting him a scathing look.

Shen flushed, and he knew it made his plumage look even uglier, it was so stupidly bright against it. Stupid like Mee. Mee was just another stupid peahen. "Would not!"

His train fanned out as he shouted, and Mee flinched back, stumbling a little. Mee was just some stupid flinching baby-Shen suddenly felt ill. Not physically crippling ill, just ill in like everything else intangible, Shen thought he knew the difference by now. It's just…his tail feathers were fanned out.

And that...Shen desperately tried to make them lie flat, and he eyed Mee, wondering if she knew what…a fanned out train meant…if all the other suitors had known…it had fanned out before in front of some of them when he lost his temper and the girls were being a bunch of dum-dums...had it just repulsed them even further, had he been humiliated in another way?...

"It's not working," Mee finally pointed out in a small voice.

Immediately Shen gave up. His whole face felt red. What would his father say if he knew he still couldn't control his stupid tail feathers…but no, Ba had said-he'd said it was all right, that his train was still deeply, instinctively connected to his emotions, it was okay…and that it only meant…_that_…under very particular circumstances.

Mee nervously smoothed out her dress. Shen's talons shuffled.

"Um, so." The boy tried again. Clean start, right. "W-what do you want to do?"

Now Mee couldn't look at him at all. "N-nothing, my prince," she admitted very quietly.

Shen sighed, his head lowering. He didn't catch the peahen glance at him quickly, with a flash of sadness or something close to it.

Staring at his talons, he asked, though it wasn't really a question, "You want to go home?"

Mee nodded, gulping.

"What's it like? Your town?"

Mee fiddled with her necklace again. "Smaller than Gongmen City. Quieter too."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Shen asked, thinking not only of Jie's younger siblings, but of An's older ones. They'd died in battle a little before Shen had been born, and whom An barely remembered now.

Mee nodded again, smiling a little this time. "I have two older brothers and three older sisters, and a younger sister and a baby brother-"

Shen quietly listened as Mee prattled on about her brothers and sisters. She seemed nicer talking about them. But still with every word he felt jealousy overtake him, like with An's pack; An had no more siblings, but he had his cousins still, and of course Jie had siblings now.

But then Mee got into a tirade about her little sister, something over lost attention, and toys; shoving and hogging in games. Mee said the worst was recent, when she made fun of her and the necklace Grandmother made her wear for her appointment with the prince. How her sister delighted in saying in mock horrified tones that she'd marry a ghost that'll haunt her come bedtime.

Shen tried to ignore the ill mention of him, especially since Mee seemed to have forgotten who was listening.

"I hate her," Mee finally finished, all of her soured over as she sat down heavily, her wings folded and her shoulders hunched.

Shen fidgeted, then finally asked her, puzzled, "Doesn't it…hurt, though?"

Mee looked up at him.

Shen continued, "D-doesn't it hurt to hate someone you're supposed to love?"

Maybe it was something about how earnest Shen asked it, how confused he sounded-either way, Mee recoiled as if bit, and hissed at him. "What do you know, you're an only child!"

_I wish I wasn't, you idiot, don't even know what you have-_ "I'm glad I am! Don't have to worry about getting a sister like you, hating me behind my back-"

"That's what your parents are for, right?" Mee spat at him.

Shen shoved her into the shallows of a nearby pond. His train had wilted behind him.

Mee glared down at her sopping wet dress. "Grandmother says they would've drowned you-" and she splashed water in Shen's face for emphasis, "-if they'd had another heir!"

Shen was grateful for the water soaking his feathers, getting into his eyes, it was blinding him, it was too hard to see Mee-if he'd seen her, he would've ripped off her Grandmother's stupid necklace. Mee's words weren't new to him, he'd overheard the same or similar before. It still felt like a punch to the gut. And the boy's patience could only last for so long as Mee kept shrieking at him, screaming that his color made him bad bad bad-

Eventually the escorts dashed over to pull the two children apart as they fought each other like mad in the shallows of the pond.

Mee plaintively shrieked as she saw the remains of her beaded necklace clenched in Shen's beak.

###

Qin sighed as he watched Mee and her parents leave. They'd been compensated for the lost family heirloom. The girl's younger sister probably wouldn't even be a viable option anymore. He doubted that particular noble family would ever warm up enough to the province's heir for any of that now.

###

"Did you not want that lab, son?"

Shen's eyes remained firmly on his talons.

Father's cold stare had shown hints of anger, disappointment, exasperation-but Nana had cut him off, and now she and her lord were off quietly and fervently talking somewhere. Shen had been left with his mother as more of an afterthought, his father and nanny moving fast and focused.

The boy hadn't seen any emotion in his mother's eyes. Her current tone held a little more emotion, just mildly questioning.

"You requested to use one of the tower's labs, pointing out that no one else works in it. That they haven't for years," Lady Fen said. "And then you not only drive another suitor away, you break her family's treasured heirloom. In light of the fact that we still withhold our approval, did it make sense to show such poor behavior?"

The lab couldn't be farther from Shen's mind. It was worlds away. But the boy couldn't bring himself to talk about what really set him off, no matter how much the grown-ups wanted him to talk; he was too humiliated, too afraid of what answers he'd receive.

But he could bring himself to broach what did matter, that he didn't want to let his parents down again. That he was sorry for still shaming them.

"I didn't mean-"

"You never do," Lady Fen cut him off coolly, and Shen's head bowed down lower, his neck aching.

Mother still wasn't around much—but she was around enough that Shen knew she had the right amount of knowledge to safely say that. And she and father probably had him under a little surveillance, even if they couldn't take the time to see him. Servants would surely talk—definitely in free gossip, and they couldn't refuse orders from his parents. Even the Soothsayer could be made to talk.

Lady Fen regarded her son quietly for a minute, then said, "Shen, you do realize the importance of this, don't you?"

"Yes, mother," the boy whispered, very quietly and in a hollow sort of voice.

"It doesn't seem you do."

Shen finally cracked. "I'm sorry, Mama-I'm really just...so sorry, I don't-I didn't meant to f-fail you-the lab doesn't matter, it was a stupid idea, I don't c-care about the lab, I-I'll do better, I promise, I won't-"

"I've heard this before," Lady Fen said in a soft voice, yet Shen still flinched. "But the part about the lab is new." She lifted her son's face up. "You sounded like you really wanted it."

Instinctively Shen began, "I want-"

But then he stopped, his tongue suddenly heavy.

"You want what?" His mother repeated, insistent.

Shen thought her eyes took on a weird, hypnotic quality, and he found himself answering, "I w-I mean, h-how come I don't have any brothers or sisters?"

Lady Fen's wing fell away.

Shen scrambled to explain himself. "I mean, I'd like a little brother or sister, I really would-I'd take care of them and we could play together-"

Shen had thought about it before, and surely it would be true, his own little brother or sister wouldn't reject him. If they were small and new, they'd think there was nothing wrong with him 'cause he'd always be that way to them. They'd play freely with him.

And they'd be so new and little they'd need even him. Shen could take care of someone for once, he could care for another person the way Nana cared for him, even for a moment.

Maybe it wouldn't last, maybe they'd learn he was wrong and bad eventually, but at least for a little while they'd have no reservations about him, and maybe they'd even still be loyal and still care after they learned the error of his birth.

But then the prince remembered The Talk. "You and Bab-father, you and father said _it_-that it happens when two peafowl love each other very much, and you said you guys do, and that you even e-enjoy it, so you wouldn't-mind if-?" Shen toyed with his sleeves. "I'd be a good big brother, really-I'd take real good care of a younger brother or sister-or twins, even triplets, I-"

Lady Fen gently but tightly gripped her son's shoulder. "Shen, your father and I…we can't have any more children."

The boy blinked. "How come?"

"Sometimes _it_…doesn't work."

The boy's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Your father and I are…sick in our own way, I suppose. Our bodies won't let us conceive any more babies. But it's not something that could kill us. It's not something that physically weakens us. It's neither something that can heal or get better either."

Shen blinked. "Oh."

After Shen had been grounded at the Soothsayer's discretion, Lady Fen told the old goat her son may make use of one of the empty labs.

(Perhaps it was the least she could do.)

###

It was hard for Shen to go to bed after the good news Nana gave him, that the lab was his.

Perhaps that explained the bad dream.

It had started off peacefully enough. Shen had been near a river, and there, peafowl eggs floated in it. His parents had been there, and asked him to go in and retrieve his new brothers and sisters. Obediently and eagerly, the white peacock had swum through the dream river easily, and pushed each of the eggs to the bank where his parents picked them up. They'd turned their backs then to walk back home with their new children, and Shen had tried to follow—but his father's train had flared up—so large, with all the eyespots staring at him—and turning very fast. It knocked Shen back into the river, now a rushing torrent. Shen had screamed for his parents to wait, wait, he was still in the river, he needed help, don't leave, please please please—

Though his shrieks were loud, dream logic dictated that he could still hear his parents talk. They said that Mee's grandmother had read their minds, and how nice to have so many eggs, so many heirs to pick and choose from, surely they'd find the right one now...

Shen had started to scream for Nana, but she never came, and then his head went under and his neck snapped back, the current would break it, the river wouldn't drown him; it would _break_ him, so weak and fragile and useless was he...

The white peacock managed to choke back his scream, but he still woke up with a whimper. Nana was there, _she was there_, her hoof gently on his forehead and looking down at him, so worried and sad.

"Would you like some water, dear-?"

"**No**." Shen shuddered, and the Soothsayer held him. The old goat guessed it was the nightmare about drowning again; she'd gotten Shen to describe some of his bad dreams before.

But the Soothsayer couldn't get Shen to talk. He just silently thought it over; maybe Mee had a point. Maybe all the other gossiping crowds did. If his parents could've conceived again…they wouldn't have needed him, they might've just—they wouldn't have to worry about him embarrassing them or bringing shame to their clan, if they could just—if they only had another heir...

"I love you," Nana told him as she tucked him back in and kissed his forehead.

_That_ would not have stopped his parents if they had another heir. It would be easy for them to—because they didn't—they really didn't, all they wanted was an heir, wasn't that true? All they wanted was a strong heir...

"T-thank you."

The Soothsayer stared at him, a funny look in her eyes that the boy could not decipher. Perhaps he was too sleepy already.

"It's not something you ever have to thank me for, Shen."

The boy shook his head, trying to drive the exhaustion away. His wing grasped for the old goat's hoof. He held it tight. "I love you lots too, Nana."

She smiled, and instinctively replied, "I love you the most, my Prince."

And deep down, Shen knew it was true.

A/N: The matchmaking process is loosely based on information I found online, bent for, well, the story's purposes.

The 'doesn't it hurt to hate someone you love' exchange is from an old Fullmetal Alchemist fic, but I forget its title and the author.

The very last part is inspired by "Tangled," but I thought a variation of it would work in this case.

And actually little Shen's red robe was inspired by this sweet fanart "Young Shen with Loo" by Red-Vanilla19 at Deviantart (though it totally reminded me of the Fire Nation in the animated series "Avatar: the Last Airbender," which has an upcoming sequel series "The Legend of Korra" OMG ITS TRAILER IS AMAZING).

I think "Mee" is pronounced like "May," but I'm not sure.

And thanks to Kchishol for recommending this fic at TVTropes' fic rec page for Kung Fu Panda! I'm so pleased and honored, especially since it's recommended alongside "A Different Lesson" by Nievelion and "Bamboo: Wounds Heal, But Scars Won't" by Herehopelies, both of my favorite KFP fanfics that can be found here on the site. "Bamboo" is a great oneshot for Lord Shen's past and from his parents' POV that I love to pieces; it's so good, guys—check it out and review! :D And then "A Different Lesson" is an epic sequel fic after the first Kung Fu Panda came out, that is now firmly AU with the official sequel done. It does a really good Tai Lung redemption arc, and brilliantly incorporates a lot of abandoned concepts discussed and pictured in "The Art of Kung Fu Panda" book. And I will claim it as an inspiration for me to really write my own KFP fanfic.

Other KFP, Lord Shen-centric recs:

Fic from Cryssy-miu (post KFP2 redemption fic and backstory stuff with an interesting new connection to Po) and White Trenchcoat (awesomely more brutal and stuff focusing exclusively on Shen's exile with).

"If No One Will Listen" by gothicorca1895, "Cannon Fire and Orchid Petals" by Seaside Fantasies, "Twisted Feathers" by hamgirl, "Birds of a Feather" by Crimson-Curved, "The Charming Lotus Flower" by International-Wonderland, "Peacock's Cry" by CKDrake, "Beautiful" by Serb.

Most of the above are fanfics I need to properly comment on later (sorry fellow writers!).

…And I'm not sure if I've already recommended some of the above fic before, so sorry if I was repetitive (or not—just emphasizing the awesomeness of this Shen fic!)

Gonna keep an eye out for new Shen stuff, I love reading fic on him. ^_^

Comrade: Thanks again, hope you enjoyed this latest chapter.


	10. a prince should

**Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen**

**Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 10. a prince should: A young Shen ditches lessons for a day in the city.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.**

**Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.**

**A/N: Always, with this fic I want to mix on-screen canon with off-screen materials found online, i.e. "****Although they still cared for him, Shen's parents were ashamed of his albino coloring and poor health, so they left him in the care of their advisor, the Soothsayer who raised him like her own. Traces of this can be seen as Shen is never outright cruel to the Soothsayer, such as how he releases her before the launch of his armada, meaning that he still respects her for showing him love" from character page for Kung Fu Panda. So I do want to make this mix of on-screen and off-screen materials as canon-compliant as possible. **

**I'm gonna try to individually reply to all your kind reviews with 's handy PM feature (except for users not signed in, since that feature's not available with them—those responses are at the bottom here).**

**Also, I have another Shen-centric KFP fic, "Change the Fate's Design," if anyone wants to check it out and leave a review. It should be in continuity with this fic (up to a point). **

a prince should

Etiquette and government were up next, the last for the day. And, well, Shen figured it wouldn't be so bad if he ditched. Should he work on creating another firework in his lab? No, he'd go to the city before dinner instead of lessons, An should be there with some of his pack, they had a day off.

Nana would scold him when she eventually found out, but it'd be just the one time, he wouldn't make a habit of it. His parents would never know.

Shen had to fight back a snicker as his tutor walked around below his spot on the roof, looking for him. Once the grown-up was out of sight, the boy dashed off the roof tier and glided down and over the palace wall.

He missed one of the city's roofs though, and ended up landing on a line of lanterns instead. His talons slipped around the rope a little, so that the white fowl swung upside down. Shen weakly chuckled as the city denizens' gaped up at him.

_So much for stealth._

A passing lion costume troop was nice enough to have its head performer stretch up, silently bidding their prince to get on. The boy dropped clumsily down on top, but the lion's head performer gently lowered him.

"Thank you," said Shen, looking up at the lion's head with a ram poking out of it.

"Don't mention it-"

"No, really, I-"

"**Ever**."

"Oh, okay, right," Shen mumbled in a very small voice, embarrassed as the lion parade trooped onward, resuming its interrupted practice.

Shen dashed off, ignoring the way everyone still looked at him.

The boy was sidetracked a little by a shadow puppet show he stopped to watch, sitting atop a barrel away from the crowd. But once that was done he continued to make his way to a tavern An said he was going to with his kin.

Shen had seen it briefly once before when An was showing him around, but they hadn't gone inside together. And last time a goose wasn't thrown bodily out the door, with someone shouting at him to remember some goddamn yuan next time. The prince stared at the goose for a while, further surprised when the man just sang nonsensically despite the growing bruise on his head.

"Prince Shen?"

The boy turned, finding one of An's older cousins in the middle of turning back and wiping his paws clean, but frozen as he stared at him.

"Hi Yang," Shen said as he walked to the tavern door. He frowned when Yang blocked the entrance, looking down at him.

"Lookin' for An?"

"Uh huh."

"Shouldn't you be with your tutors?"

"Did you just throw that goose out into the street?"

Yang grumbled, "We were playin' a game, guy said he was good for it, once I win, his yuan magically vanishes-"

The older wolf snorted, then shouted back, "HEY AN!"

"WHAT?"

"KID'S HERE!"

Shen rankled at the diminutive, though he'd learned the pack sometimes did that in an attempt to hide his identity. Still, the boy could poke holes in that sentiment. "You already said my name, title and all; and everyone knows or they're gonna know I'm the prince either way, there aren't any other white peafowl-"

"Which is why we get so goddamned nervous when you're out here, and now you're ditching!"

Shen scoffed. "It's not like anyone would try anything in the city-"

Yang scoffed back. "Like they didn't try anything in the palace, right?"

Immediately everything in Shen's face closed off, and Yang's ears flattened against his skull. The older wolf still thought he was right, but that was a bit harsh on his prince, who really was cooped up at the palace tower more often than not. Yang knew he couldn't handle it if he was in the boy's situation.

An arrived, somewhat breaking up the awkward mood, though Yang sounded too gruff when he asked, "Sober enough, pup?"

An rolled his eyes as he walked by Yang and out the tavern. "I'm fine."

Shen shuffled his talons. "We can still stay if you want-and I want to see-"

Yang barked out a laugh. "Nah, widdle An here can barely stomach one drink-"

Yang only laughed louder as An gave him a rude gesture while taking Shen away.

Still the prince mumbled when they turned a corner, "Sorry."

An blinked. "For what?"

"That you had to leave the bar 'cause I'm too little-" Shen shook himself, correcting, "Because you all **think** I'm too little-"

The teen wolf chuckled. "Yang's not the only who thinks I'm still too 'little' for the place. Me and Jie and the others are barely allowed there."

"But you sneaked around before," Shen pointed out.

"Just their storage the one time, and you remember what happened after that, right?"

Shen laughed as An grumbled.

"Yeah, all the grown-ups gave you extra chores even though you all got real sick-"

"If only you'd laughed then," An said, smiling this time. "You thought we were gonna drop dead. Only the Soothsayer got you to calm the hell down."

Shen huffed. "Well, you guys looked really bad."

"That, my prince, is what a hangover can do to the uninitiated." Then An blinked. "Shouldn't you be in a lesson or something right now?"

Shen groaned. "C'mon, _you've_ ditched before."

The older boy snickered, "Guess I've been a bad influence on you after all."

"Not so bad," Shen said, with a roll of his eyes and a grin. Then he quickly pecked An, who shoved him back with a pleased bark. Soon the boys were shoving and biting gently, roughhousing, before Shen broke away, daring An to catch him.

The boys ran, until Shen dashed up some crates and then onto a roof. The chase resumed as An climbed up too, jumping over rooftops. Some people at their windows went "Oh my!" as the boys dashed past, to which Shen hurriedly said "Sorry!" while An just laughed louder. But children-especially really young ones-at the windows would just shriek in delight as the boys dashed past, then stay for a while watching them jump across the rooftops.

The white peacock and the wolf soon reached a familiar building gap. As usual, Shen glided across. He turned back to An on the opposite side, saying in a mock-innocent voice, "Think you can make it now?"

"Definitely!"

Just in case, Shen went to the lantern line that always ran between the two buildings, gripping it tight with his talon. An had been using the lantern line and the straw storage below as safety precautions ever since they started this game ages ago.

An ran back as far as he could, then dashed forward as fast as he could go, then he cleared the air and-

The wolf made it close enough so that Shen could even grab him with both wings, just as he missed the edge. But Shen was caught off guard-and soon the extra weight was too much and the boy was starting to fall with An. But as they went, An grabbed the ever reliable lantern line-and soon the line broke. Shen held onto An holding the line as they both swung down and for the previous building. With practiced ease, even with the extra weight, An lifted his back legs and had them press firmly, securely against the wall, instead of crashing.

Once the boys climbed down the line and flopped into the hay, An snickered. "It's been a while since you went along for the ride."

Shen flushed. "I hadn't noticed the straw the very first time, I thought you were gonna break your neck!"

"Still can't pick me up-" An sang-song before Shen threw some straw in his face.

An approached him with a mock-predatory smirk.

"Oh no, remember Song, she said she'd skin us alive the next time we messed up her straw, and I just hit you with a little of the stuff so she won't notice-"

Shen shrieked with glee as An tackled him off the straw stack, and the two boys wrestled on the ground.

When both got up, cleaned themselves of the straw as much as they could, and began to make their way back to the palace, Shen decided ditching had been a very good decision indeed.

Nana would scold, but it would be just the one time. And his parents would never know. Surely they wouldn't know. (They wouldn't care.)

###

"My Lord, you are blowing this out of proportion."

"Am I?" Baojia said in a voice that was too quiet, facing the Soothsayer.

The old goat continued, "Yes. Shen is not by any stretch of the imagination the first prince to skip his lessons-"

"-but he is the first one inexplicably born of a color steeped in the worst superstition."

"Lord Baojia-"

"He is watched far more closely than any other heir, his proclivity for mistakes has to be minimized as much as possible, and to make one that could've been avoided-!"

"He is still a child," said Lady Fen, and both her husband and goat advisor stared at her. "And this is a childish mistake we can allow." Her eyes hardened. "This is not like concerns over lineage, this is schoolwork that can be made up. There is no need to be harsh with him in this case."

The Soothsayer pressed on, riding on Lady Fen's support. "I know you both have a whole province to serve and protect-" though now was not the time to again broach the topic of their fear of attachment to their only sickly son, despite the fact that he was growing stronger "-but Shen probably assumes you'll be too busy to notice if he misses a class or two."

The old goat's voice grew quieter. "The reverse is possible too-that punishment from you is better than no attention."

Lady Fen's face remained impassive, but Lord Baojia blew out a frustrated breath.

###

Shen lowered his head back down when he spotted Nana waiting for him.

But the old goat called out to him, "I saw you, dear."

"Busted," whispered An with a light snicker as Shen raised his head back up and began to complete the climb over the wall. The prince thought he'd have a little more time before the Soothsayer caught him.

"Nana, it was just the one time-" Shen began, thinking he'd have a go first. But then his voice broke off into a horrified silence as he saw his father waiting at the foot of the steps.

At first Lord Bajioa's face was unreadable-but then his eyes snapped in An's direction, and a clear spark of anger entered them.

Even as the Soothsayer shot his father a warning glare, Shen felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. What if father blamed An? That had never occurred to the prince, but maybe it should've. His parents had never seemed to really understand or approve of his friendship with An and his pack...

For his part An fought back his sudden burst of panic, approaching his Lord and bowing before him, just waiting.

Shen hurried to his friend's side.

"Father, I found An, it wasn't his idea to-"

"He should've escorted you back."

"But he has to follow my orders too, right? I ordered him to play with me!" That wasn't true, but Shen had to convince his father it was.

His stomach still wasn't feeling any better, Shen was beginning to think his father could see through the lie. "His first duty is to me, and he along with his pack have a standing order to protect you."

"And he was! He was guarding me the whole time while we played!"

Baojia stared down at his son's red eyes.

(And he remembered when he'd been a boy, younger than Shen, and his own older brother had told him that red means good fortune.

Boajia shook his brother's voice from his head-if his brother were here, he wouldn't be in this situation, would he? He would have no concerns with Shen being heir, Lu would've had his own-

Baojia's heart hardened at the memories, the what ifs. They were neither here nor there. Lu nor anyone else had anything to do with his own shortcomings as a father.)

The Gongmen Emperor's eyes finally flicked from his heir to the young wolf guard. "Does my son speak the truth?"

An tried to think very, very fast. He'd inherited obedience to Gongmen's peafowl rulers, and Lord Baojia was at the very top.

But wouldn't Shen get in trouble? Not any more trouble than he was already in, perhaps.

But he'd only courted this extra trouble when trying to defend An. And Shen's parents seemed harsher than his own, and the prince was still just a young boy.

But it wasn't as if An would be punished by his own parents instead, it would be his lord's wrath, and what if it extended to his pack? But Shen-

Shen thought very fast too, trying to predict what An would say. Would he play along with the lie? Or would he forget his self-interest and obey his father as he was supposed to?

There was a 50-50 shot that Shen's lie would work, but the boy still didn't like those odds. And maybe it wasn't fair to make An lie to his lord-

"Don't make him! I-I lied, okay?" Shen finally burst out, stepping in front of An, whose head had perked up in shock. "But I would've ordered him to play with me if he'd tried to take me back-" another lie, An had never needed an order, Shen had never thought of it before, but maybe this lie would work "-and he would've thought he had to listen, even if you said he really didn't have to because your words were kinda va-" it was too late, Shen had to finish the rambling thought "-gue.

Oh gods, he was so doomed.

Shen looked up at his father, terrified.

Lord Baojia recognized his son's fear. It made his stomach clench. (But was it so different from respect? Did it not serve his desire that the boy not challenge his authority until he himself was ruler? Would it really change his actions in the long run? He'd been rather terrified of his own father as well.)

The Soothsayer walked forward, silent save for a particular, insistent thonk of her walking stick.

Finally Baojia dismissed An, who bowed again and retreated to the barracks. He spared Shen one last glance over his back, then was gone. The older boy knew better than to press his luck and refuse his lord's dismissal.

"Come Shen, walk with me a moment," Baojia ordered, and immediately turned his back and started off, expecting his son to follow.

The boy shot the Soothsayer one last pleading look. But the old goat gave a reassuring nod and waved her hoof in his father's direction.

With a certain slump to his shoulders, Shen followed his father. But the boy gave himself his own reassurance too-An hadn't gotten in trouble.

For a time the white peacock and his blue father walked the grounds.

Shen probably shouldn't have broken the silence, but he asked anyway, "Where's mother?"

"Attending a council meeting. She represents the both of us."

_Oh gods, I pulled father out of a meeting_. With a lurch of his stomach, Shen remembered that had happened before when he almost killed a child with his stupid tail feathers.

Baojia sighed. "So I suppose you were correct in assuming that we would have been too busy to notice your actions."

Shen twitched.

"That is what you thought, yes?"

The boy nodded, gulping.

Baojia tried very hard to keep the edge out of his voice, to keep it gentle and soft. "Even so, I expect you to attend all your lessons, to be on your best behavior. You can go to the city during your free time. But son, you must understand, this _is_ more than I would normally ask, and it _is_ because of your differences."

Shen stopped, as did Baojia. The boy could no longer look at his father.

The older peacock forced back the urge to make his son look at him. It was a hard truth to swallow for one so young.

But it would stick, Baojia did not have to force eye contact to make it stick.

Baojia couldn't remember ever telling this to Shen outright, but it had surely been implied as the boy had grown.

Baojia continued, repeating what he had told the Soothsayer and his wife earlier. "Our people watch you more closely, expecting mistake and weakness. You cannot show them that."

Shen folded his wings, began to shuffle his talons.

Baojia sighed, admitting, "I know mistakes do happen. And you try your best. But you should not make mistakes that you can avoid-"

"It was just one day, Baba, I didn't mean it to be so bad-!"

Baojia raised a wing for silence, and immediately Shen stopped, gulping. Inwardly, Baojia was angry-but with himself, he was still doing it all wrong, clearly. (But had that mattered before, will it still? Right or wrong-as long as the boy obeyed...)

But still he said words that cost his pride; "I'm sorry, Shen. I've made this specific case more severe than it really is, or may be."

"You're…overreacting?" Shen flinched and stared at his father, horrified at the treacherous words.

But Baojia just smirked. Somewhat fondly, he said, "You sound like the Soothsayer."

Baojia's heart warmed, yet twitched painfully at the same time, when Shen straightened up a little at that.

"You should not skip your lessons. That was not the best thing to do. But it's not something I should regard as a grave error."

Baojia sighed, and he noted with some irritation he tended to do that a lot with his only son. "Admittedly I may be only causing more problems by giving it such attention." Was it foolish to admit such a thing in front of the boy? And yet it was a sudden truth that occurred to Baojia, something he should've noticed before.

Shen's brow furrowed. "It's okay, Dad," he said instinctively. He awkwardly patted his father's wing, trying to reassure him.

Baojia shot his son a look, then chuckled softly, fondly ruffling the boy's crest feathers on his head.

"Come. I must see your mother, and you have to eat."

As they walked back across the palace grounds to the tower, Baojia told Shen that he had skipped too, started even younger than Shen.

"Your grandfather-well, he left it to your grandmother actually. What to do with me. Regardless, she handled it better than I've done," Lord Baojia admitted softly.

"Well, you were normal, not..." And Shen's eyes were downcast again.

Baojia stiffly wrapped a wing around his son's thin shoulders. "More importantly, I was not the heir. Your uncle Lu was."

Shen blinked. "I have a-had an uncle? L-like aunties from Mama's side?"

The Gongmen Emperor felt suddenly quite numb. Had he made his wishes that plain to everyone when he desired no reminders of his brother? Shen had heard nothing of him, not even from the Soothsayer? Then again, it was the Soothsayer that had found him in one of his worst rages during the most recent aftermath of Lu's death years ago...

"Yes, you did. When your grandparents were alive, Lu was next in line. _He_ was scolded harshly whenever he ditched lessons."

After that, Shen asked nothing else about his recently discovered uncle. Perhaps Baojia's voice had been too bitter when he spoke.

**A/N: A new semester's starting soon, so updates may come less frequently still, sorry. And it's not just RL, I'm also doing fic for Transformers Prime (an excellent show that should be checked out), but I have plans for where this fic/my interpretation of Shen's past will go and how it will end.**

**So I couldn't resist echoing Po and Crane's exchange from Kung Fu Panda 1 with young Shen and the ram in the lion costume, which was its own extra nod to KFP2.**

**Thanks CKDrake for reminding me to separate A/N from actual fic—A/N will be bolded in from now on, and I'll try to edit previous chapters to include that.**

**Moonstripe-The-Wolf: Thanks! Enjoyed your use of Kung Fu Panda classic lines. :D **


	11. firstborn son

**Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen**

**Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 11. the first-born son: In which a young Shen further questions his legacy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks honor.**

**Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.**

**A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**I need to eventually replace 'Emperor' with 'King' in past chapters; Gongmen rulers' other titles still baffle me. Emperor seems too much like just the one title for the actual Emperor of KFP's fantasy ancient China. They surely have one, and the new KFP short where the Wu Sisters mention the Imperial army seems like the first indication that there is one. And the KFP wiki sometimes calls Shen's dad the peacock king.**

**After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"-a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit, and now this will, well, officially continue to go in more of an order with all of the stories interconnecting a lot more as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more.**

the first-born son

Shen's questions were almost immediate.

"Father wasn't supposed to rule Gongmen? It was gonna be Lu—uncle Lu?"

The Soothsayer paused over reorganizing new purchases from Xu's medicine shop.

She gave a heavy sigh, and immediately Shen felt guilty again, like when making father bring Lu up in the first place.

"I'm sorry that I never told you about him," she said, turning back to him as she set her new supplies aside.

Immediately Shen shook his head. "No Nana, it's—not exactly new—I mean, I barely see my aunts anyway, they might as well be de—"

Shen's eyes widened in horror at where his mouth was running off too. He self-consciously fiddled with his white wings (his stupid white wings reeking of death in every way, and he was so preoccupied with death on top of that, the most idiotic action he could take).

"—I mean, that's, that's not what I mean, it's just—"

"Calm down, dear," the Soothsayer said, smiling softly. It grew sadder as she said, "It's understandable to feel that your uncle and aunts aren't much of an influence, given the circumstances."

Shen stopped fiddling with his wings, folding them in his sleeves.

"Um, what was he like?" The boy felt more comfortable asking what a dead relative was like than a living one.

The Soothsayer said she would make tea and dumplings, then began to answer while cooking.

"Lu was kind. Enjoyed making his younger brother laugh." She didn't speak again until pouring the tea. "Your father loved him very much."

Shen rolled a dumpling around in his wings. "Were you ever his—um, their nanny too?"

The Soothsayer shook her head, sipping at her own drink. "I have never been one to anyone but you, dear."

"Oh." Shen looked like he wanted to ask something more, but he just shoved the dumpling in his mouth, ate a few more and drank, and did not press the topic of the past any further.

None too gracefully, the boy shifted the conversation to about what An and he had been up to while ditching. The Soothsayer mildly scolded him for that, knowing his father had already dealt with it and did not need an overdose on punishment. Still, she gave him some extra chores and he grumbled over that, though the set of his shoulders was more relaxed.

The old goat made no comment about the prince backing off from his earlier curiosity.

###

"Your Uncle Lu?"

"Yes, sir," Shen replied while balancing on the staff, without a glance to Master Thundering Rhino. That would've required turning his neck, and he wasn't supposed to move at all for another three minutes.

"Did your father tell you about him?"

"A little, sir, when he said that he d-ditched too," the boy stuttered on his minor crime. He felt the talon gripping the staff threaten to twitch anxiously. "But Lu got in more trouble when he ditched because he was gonna be king...before."

Thundering Rhino chuckled at that. "Yes, I remember that." More softly, he asked, "Did your father say anything else about Lu?"

"Not really, I...I don't think he really meant to in the first place, he never mentioned him before. I don't really think he likes talking about uncle."

The old warrior sighed. "No, he does not."

"Nana said he really loved uncle." And not for the first time, Shen felt jealous of his father, who had a sibling along with being born blue and normal and healthy.

"And she already, um, apologized, you know, for me...not...knowing." The boy trailed off, the whole matter still baffled him, but the Kung Fu master's sigh had almost sounded guilty. "Did Father order everyone not to talk about Lu—Uncle Lu?"

"Not necessarily, but he might as well have," Thundering Rhino said, his voice heavy.

"...How did he die? Did someone kill him?"

"No...no, it wasn't that." Shen really wanted to turn his neck and look up, but Thundering Rhino had been clear about the balance exercise. Perhaps he should've waited to ask, but he was too curious and then his master hadn't stopped him, so Shen had pressed on.

"I was away at the time, with Masters Croc and Storming Ox."

"What were you up to? Was it bandits? Invaders?"

"Dealing with the Wu Sisters and Xiao Mei again, if I recall correctly...but afterward, a messenger told us that Lu and his family had fallen ill and passed away."

Shen twitched, and inwardly chided himself; it wasn't like talk of illness was contagious. Though apparently he wasn't such an anomaly among his family in that department.

"Your father was sixteen when crowned ruler of Gongmen. He had—"

And Thundering Rhino paused, as if searching for the right words.

"—a horrible time of it, his temper a short fuse. When talk of your uncle stopped, things progressed better...Shen, you may come up now."

The prince quickly leapt down but fumbled in catching his staff. Trying to suppress his blush, Shen hurriedly climbed up the roof tier to Thundering Rhino's balcony.

The boy fiddled with his staff, then finally spoke again.

"Um, Master, I have a question, it's kinda still about Uncle..."

"Yes?"

"Um, well...in G-Gongmen, when there's more than one heir, and one dies and the other gets to be ruler, is the other one...is it just because of how everyone feels, or is there a rule to like...forget about the other heir? 'Cause he didn't become ruler, and doesn't mat—"

Shen snapped his beak shut, clutching the staff tight against his shoulder and looking down at his talons.

"'Matter?'" Thunder Rhino gently said the word for him.

Shen mumbled, "It's just—you know King Sui, right?" The rhino nodded. "I didn't know he wasn't always next in line, that he had older siblings, no one ever seems to talk about them either..."

"In that way, time can be cruel. The past can be lost as the future progresses." Shen quietly followed his master down the hall as the older man spoke. "It's not an explicit practice, but it's common for people to only remember the rulers who made history, and pay no more mind to those that did not live long enough to do so. Such things happen in spite of those who truly loved and cherished them...and yet, I think that's enough."

The boy frowned. He slowly asked, "To only be remembered by family, friends?"

Thundering Rhino nodded, watching the prince with an unreadable look in his eye.

"But," and Shen's brows furrowed, "but you said even that doesn't always last, right? That they're eventually forgotten?"

The rhino nodded again.

"Isn't that bad?" Shen asked in a small voice, looking up at the Kung Fu master.

The older warrior shook his head. "Everything ends," Thundering Rhino said gently. "Even a memory, eventually. There is nothing inherently wrong in that."

The prince's frown remained, as he puzzled it all over. Thundering Rhino watched him ponder, then chuckled. "I doubt you were expecting this much philosophy when asking that question, hmm?"

Shen mumbled, "Didn't expect Kung Fu to be full of it either."

"Seems to suit you, though, all that thoughtful analy—"

"_Please_ don't do the pun with my name."

"It's not my fault your name makes it so easy," Thundering Rhino teased.

"'Deep thinker,'" the boy grumbled. "What were my parents thinking naming me 'Shen?'" Now the young peacock could somewhat understand why An would be irritated with his own name.

"You know how prescient the Soothsayer is—"

"Wait, what?"

Master Thundering Rhino stilled as the boy whirled on him, tail feathers flaring.

"Nana even advised them on naming me?" Shen sounded incredulous, and slightly anxious, as if concerned over what answer he'd receive.

"To my understanding, yes." There was something in Thundering Rhino's voice that made the boy stop pursuing that line of thinking. That, and Shen's own damnable thoughts were leading to a less than comfortable place about who really bothered to give him a name. (Nana surely just advised, surely his parents had named him, they must've.)

**A/N: That new Kung Fu Panda short was awesome. But I think for this fic the exact content of that short will be chalked up to one of many versions of a legend about Masters Thundering Rhino, Storming Ox and the Wu Sisters. It was interesting to see them as peers, but I still like the strong implication in the sequel itself and other backstory materials that Thundering Rhino is the oldest, the mentor and the leader of the three. And I still like Master Croc's backstory as a bandit and Thundering Rhino successfully helping him secure another chance. Though I found Storming Ox's backstory vague enough where I can incorporate the short's street fighter angle. And I actually do like that street fighter angle and Daddy Issues with Thundering Rhino too-so for fic purposes/my fanon says Thundering Rhino did do that when he was young, but that predates meeting Storming Ox and Croc. And speaking of Croc, I like to think he still could've participated in street fighting too, maybe that's how he and Storming Ox met, even predating encounters with Thundering Rhino. Hopefully I could incorporate all that into this fic or for a separate one.**

**ETA: According to the Kung Fu Panda wiki, "The name 'Shen' translates into English as "divinity"…"flame"…and "deep thought" (source of the pun here).**


	12. the first half

**Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen**

**Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 12. the first half: In which a young Shen experiments.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.**

**Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.**

**A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**I need to replace 'Emperor' with 'King' in past chapters; Gongmen rulers' other titles still baffle me. Emperor seems too much like just the one title for the actual Emperor or Empress of KFP's fantasy ancient China. They surely have one, and the new KFP short where the Wu Sisters mention the Imperial army seems like the first indication that there is one. And the KFP wiki sometimes calls Shen's dad the peacock king.**

**After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"—a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit, and now this will, well, officially continue to go in more of an order with all of the stories interconnecting a lot more as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more.**

the first half

Shen rushed after his parents.

His question was in an equal rush: "Mother, Father, may I please spar with you later?"

They were on their way to another meeting, but maybe he could take advantage of their busy schedule to easily secure the answer he wanted.

"We shall consider it, Shen," his mother answered, successfully ruining his strategy.

Shen let himself childishly pout a little at his parents' backs as they left.

###

"So, how'd it go?"

"Not much difference," Shen said as he passed the cookies to An, who then passed them on to Jie.

The white peacock and the two wolves sat on the palace roof, at the moment paying some attention to the dragon costume practice its run around the city again.

"So they said no?" Jie asked.

"Mother said they'd think about it," Shen mumbled before taking a bite out of his cookie.

"So you got a 'maybe,' that's something," An said through a mouthful of cookie, despite the disgusted noise Jie made.

"Don't know how our Lord and Lady can be that overprotective while being so dist—

er, busy all the time, but they manage it," Jie said, and immediately An shot her a glare. The girl gave a helpless shrug.

An turned on his back on her, looking to the young prince now biting angrily into his cookie.

"They probably just figure you get enough with Masters Thundering Rhino, Ox and Croc, y'know? Not to mention you and me going at it," An said, playfully punching the younger boy in the shoulder.

Shen's eyes flashed, yet he ignored the gentle fist. He just swallowed the last of his cookie and mumbled, "Nana says they have a private hall to spar in because they want some time for themselves."

An and Jie stared at each other. Then An gripped his head as if it suddenly ached. "Stupid instant mental image!"

"You're such a perv," Jie said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm a visual thinker! My brain just goes straight for the freakin' pictures!" An growled, flushing.

Shen was staring at the two wolves now, with the distinct impression that something was flying over his head, not unlike some conversations with Ox and Croc.

"Dragon's gone," murmured Jie, and both boys turned, catching the dragon costume's tail disappear behind a building.

Jie stood up, stretching with a yawn. "I'm heading back to the barracks."

"Gonna be in my lab," Shen said, brushing the crumbs off his robes as he got up.

"Mind if I watch?" An asked. The wolf boy would sometimes watch the prince work.

"Sure, I'm gonna test out this new formula I've been working on!"

Shen was still eagerly telling An about his experiments when they reached the hall. Jie smirked as she watched the boys go. Shen's face was animated, with An giving the occasional nod, though looking a bit baffled.

###

An found that Shen wasn't always difficult to understand when he went on about science. When An got him to slow down, the younger boy could explain and give background information, and otherwise share his ideas quite clearly. But just as his developing fighting style favored speed, so did Shen's mouth and mind simply run fast, forgetting that An didn't always know all the terms or other scientists' theories.

And sometimes An just let him run with it, like now. The wolf sat cross-legged on a low shelf while Shen kept happily talking as he dashed about getting his supplies and formula records. The older boy still watched the prince with interest, though his mind was lost. Shen was just a ball of frenetic energy that was impossible not to watch, even when all comprehension of his talk had been lost.

Finally the young peacock began to settle down once everything was arranged and he began to work in silence.

The wolf found this even interesting for a time, as Shen became the perfect picture of focus when in the lab. Eventually An would leave, sometimes quietly or with a small good-bye, the prince always became so absorbed in his work. Other times An tried to drag him out when it got too late, or when it was time to eat. It would probably be the former tonight, dinner had already been consumed before he and the prince and Jie had shared dessert on a roof tier.

###

Shen carefully measured, then poured...

He had expected an explosion, he was experimenting with fireworks after all.

But this particular explosion far exceeded the size he calculated.

The prince shouted as the fire caught his foot.

His mind became a jumbled mess of nerves shrieking in agony, indistinct as he smelled his own talon burn. Yet his first semi-coherent thought was that he had one foot left that wasn't on fire. He had to keep it that way.

Instinctively, Shen raised his intact talon, trying to distance it from the flames. His burning talon trembled, supporting the weight of his body alone for a few seconds before finally falling. Shen had enough presence of mind to make his burning leg fall flat on the ground and not under his body, not pinned as if truly sitting.

But not enough presence of mind to realize the problem in letting his wings flap from sheer panic and pain.

An had that presence of mind, grabbing the prince from under his wings, stopping them from falling down and blowing a full gust of wind.

"Don't, you'll feed the fire, it likes air!"

The prince's eyes were starting to feel very wet. Shen tried not to whimper or scream or shout. He instead croaked to An, "There's a jug of water over there."

The peacock bit his sleeve to keep from giving into the screams that wanted to escape, while An dashed for the jug he had pointed out. The older wolf was gone and back in half a second, unplugging the jug and pouring it all over Shen's burning talon.

Shen's scream was stifled by fabric as the water hissed over the dying fire.

Sleeve still caught in his beak, Shen pulled, ripping off a piece and handing it to An, who quickly wrapped it around the damp, burnt talon. Shen ripped off another piece of fabric for An to cover the whole wounded area.

An retained his speed, swiftly picking Shen up and dashing out of the lab. Immediately outside he gave a piercing howl, and soon one of his older cousins came and carried the white peacock to the infirmary.

###

"There will be a little bit of scarring, but your talon should be fine."

"It won't have to be cut off?"

The Soothsayer ran a hoof over Shen's forehead, shaking her head. The boy felt too warm.

"No, it won't. Where did you learn about amputation?"

"An tells me stuff, said he heard it happen to his great great uncle."

The old goat nodded distractedly as she spotted the head physician return.

She made Shen drink the nutrient-enriched tea no matter the faces he made, then listened to the antelope whisper in her ear.

Her eyes narrowed as the boy gagged when the word 'infection' left the physician's lips a little too loudly.

###

When Shen's fever broke and his coherency returned, the Soothsayer asked him again how he felt.

"Better."

"Good." The Soothsayer's concerned brow shifted into a glare. "What did I tell you about working in the lab before?"

"That I had to be careful," Shen said in a small voice, wishing he could look away from his nanny. He couldn't remember her looking this angry with him.

"What happened?" The old goat's voice hardened even further.

Shen cringed. "I—I think I only mis—miscalculated the formula. I did everything else right, measurements weren't wrong—"

"'Only?'"

The Soothsayer lifted the cover off his tightly bandaged talon. "You not only endangered yourself, but An as well, thank the gods he sufferend no harm." Shen flinched at the thought of getting his friend hurt.

The boy fought down the urge to dive under the covers as the Soothsayer snapped out each sentence: "You wounded yourself. That wound was infected. You've been unconscious and suffering from a fever for three days. That wound has scarred over. And a _miscalculation_ did all this?"

"I—y-yes? It's the only—"

Shen remembered the word seemed to trigger his nanny's ire.

"—er, most likely explanation."

"'Mostly likely—?'" The old goat began to parrot angrily again, then seemed to choke back her temper. She pursed her lips and turned her head to the side, pinching the bridge of her snout in between her eyes. But she whirled back again with a stomp of her cane and her voice rising. "_**Do you have any idea how much worse it could've been**_?"

The young peacock swallowed hard. "I—I'm sorry Nana, I didn't mean to anger you—"

He jumped in the bed when the Soothsayer stomped her cane again. "That is not the point, you foolish boy! Have you not been listening? You could've suffered more severe injury, you _could've_ lost your foot or your _**life**_—if An hadn't been there to help you—!"

"N-no, no, I do know Nana, really—"

Shen instinctively reached for the old goat's hoof. He froze when she removed her hoof before he could reach it. The boy could not remember his nanny ever withdrawing from him like that in any way, like his parents...

The prince swallowed hard.

The Soothsayer now gripped her cane with both hooves, still glaring, though not directly at her charge anymore. She looked down, her jaw clenched, her chest rising up and down heavily.

Shen's wing finally lowered, and he blinked rapidly at his nanny.

Though his chest had suddenly become very tight and made it hard to breathe, he still managed to quietly say, "I really am sorry I made you angry, Nana. I didn't mean to...I don't mean to do a l-lot of things, but I keep messing up badly..."

The Soothsayer stiffened. She then put her cane down and took Shen's wing, her other arm reaching up and cradling his head as she bent over the boy, gently kissing his forehead.

"I was afraid for you, dear." She ruffled his crest feathers, and the peacock child giggled, drawing a smile from her lips. "Which admitteldy makes me testy as well."

"I'll be more careful, Nana; I promise."

"Yes, you will." She kissed his forehead again, then leaned back. "Still, no lab for a month after your'e fully recovered."

Shen's "yes ma'm" was very docile.

###

The prince yawned, sleepily opening his eyes. He perked up when he realized it was his mother at his bedside.

"Hi Mama," he said in a small, pleased voice.

"Hello, Shen. How did you sleep?"

"No bad dreams." The prince looked around. "Where's father?"

"Busy. He was here before, while you were sleeping. How do you feel?"

"Great."

"Hmmm," went his mother, and Shen wondered if she'd seen through his half-lie. As he told Nana, he was feeling better, not exactly great...

Lady Fen did regard Shen thoughtfully, almost making him squirm.

"I promise to be more careful in the lab," he finally said, sharing the promise to Nana with his mother, and by extension his father.

Fen's look turned harder. But all she said was, "About what you asked earlier, the answer is 'no.'"

Shen clutched his blanket, almost opened his beak to protest—then he saw her eyes fall on his talon all wrapped up in bandages. His chest twisted painfully.

_Of course, he burned his own foot, how well could such a foolish weakling handle a bout_? Shen dared not say it, it was bad enough he was thinking it, and he really didn't want mother to confirm it aloud. ("But you should not make mistakes that you can avoid," his father's voice echoed in his head.)

"But you may observe, sometimes."

Shen's chest lightened, and he smiled.

###

The prince panted, struggling to hold his weight on his bandaged talon. He swore when he buckled down again.

His eyes widened when he recalled that Nana and Master Thundering Rhino were in the room overseeing his physical recovery, along with An.

Apprehensively, he turned back to look at them. The Soothsayer looked half-grave, half-amused, while Thundering Rhino looked fully amused. An looked horrified, frantically glancing at the two adults in the room.

Shen swallowed, then tried to get up again. He felt the kung fu warrior's hoof on his shoulder stop him.

"That's enough for your first day."

Thundering Rhino gestured to An. At first the wolf flinched, for a moment terrified the rhino had dropped his amusement and would rain down righteous fury on him for corrupting the prince's language. He shook himself when he realized that the master just wanted Shen's staff, and An threw it to him.

Thundering Rhino caught the staff, and offered it to Shen.

The prince blinked at it, then recoiled. "No, I want to keep going—"

His master shook his head. "You've done well, now you need your rest—"

"I don't need a cane!" Shen snarled, tail feathers flaring. They wilted when he heard the soft thump of the Soothsayer's own cane.

"Yours will have even more use than mine," the old goat said, her smile lopsided. "You've had quite a lot of practice striking and blocking with it already."

"...You've whacked a lot of people with yours, too," Shen mumbled. He then accepted the staff and leaned on it as he walked. The boy had to admit, it helped.

Still, he hoped his parents never saw him with it.

###

"Scars are cool," An asserted to Shen, while he waited with the prince and Jie for the Soothsayer to return with a lunch she promised them.

The young peacock lay exhausted on his back, staring at the courtyard sky through half-lidded eyes. His scarred foot was far out of sight, and throbbing from all the retraining he forced it through.

"Don't you mean battle scars?" Shen grumbled.

An's ears flattened. "Um—"

"Because I didn't get it in a fight with an assassin, I burned myself like a weak idiot—"

"Pfft, like you'd be the first," Jie scoffed, waving a paw airily around.

The prince glanced at the wolf girl, while An blinked at her.

"Who else burned themself?" Shen asked in a voice attempting to be imperial and only slightly curious (though truthfully he was a 'mostly').

"Well, there wasn't really any fire involved, but I think the principle's the same." Jie crouched closer toward the boys conspiratorially.

Shen forced himself to sit up. He glared at An when he tried to help him, immediately making the older boy back up with a placating paw.

"Now, you've heard of the Wu Sisters, right?"

"Duh."

"Of course. Wait, they burned themselves-uh, metaphorically?"

"One of them did, any way." Jie tilted her head toward Shen.

"My prince, did you know your parents fought them?"

Shen perked up, surprised.

"Really?"

"That's what I've heard."

"Huh," An said, leaning toward Jie more.

"Yeah, so the story goes, when Lord Baojia was young and betrothed to Lady Fen, one of the places they would get together was in her hometown, Jinzhou, where the eldest Wu Sister, Su, had been imprisoned by Lady Fen's father, Xuan—"

Shen stared, and An said, "Wait, what? Shen's _grandfather_ fought the Wu Sisters too?"

"He and his soldiers fought _only_ Su," the girl explained with a roll of her eyes. "Xuan had planned to divide the sisters when they started causing trouble in his territory, but only ever found and captured Su. Afterward it was decided she'd be remain in his jurisdiction; he was like head of the militia or something in Jinzhou."

"Anyway, Lord Baojia and Lady Fen met Masters Storming Ox and Croc—"

"Before they were masters," added An.

"Before they were masters," Jie grit out, shooting the wolf boy a glare. "They met while street fighting."

"My parents watched?"

"No, they participated."

The prince stared at Jie.

"_They_ were street fighting?" Shen blinked. "My parents? Street fighting?"

"It's what I heard."

Shen slowly shook his head. "That...doesn't sound like them." Though he did inwardly admit he didn't know everything about them. And they were accomplished warriors. They still sparred.

Jie rolled her eyes again. "Not now—but back then, they were teenagers, things were different."

"Rebellious royals and nobles, huh?" An said with a lopsided smirk.

The peacock thoughtfully said, "Master Thundering Rhino was a street fighter, too, when he was younger..."

"So that's true?" An asked. "Because I heard when Storming Ox, Croc and Thundering Rhino beat the Wu Sisters, they all met street fighting and they were like the same age, and that story was cool, but it was confusing too 'cause Thundering Rhino's way older than Croc and Ox—and Oogway was in it, is Oogway in this one, Jie—?"

"You're babbling, An," the girl dryly said. She then shook her head. "And no, Grand Master Oogway isn't in this version of the story."

"Is this version true?" Shen asked, and Jie turned back to him, shrugging.

"I think it is, my aunt told it to me and she was old enough to actively serve in the guard at the time. Could always ask your parents or the Kung Fu council later...and I could just stop here, what with all these interruptions—"

"No, go on! Besides, you haven't even made your point yet."

An blinked at Shen. "There was a point?"

"Something about the Wu Sisters burning themselves without fire—"

"Does lava not count as fire—?"

"What?"

"The Wu Sisters' fortress was in Hubei volcano."

"I heard they just lived in some mountain that had blizzards all the time—"

"Do you guys want to tell the story?" Jie finally snapped at the boys. They both stopped and mumbled "sorry."

After waiting a few seconds to make sure they would stay quiet, Jie opened her mouth—then shut it, glaring. "Where was I?" She grit out.

An gulped, and Shen said, "Um, everyone was street fighting?"

"Right, everyone was street fighting—it was Prince Baojia and Lady Fen versus Storming Ox and Croc in a two-on-two bout—"

"Wait, why was Croc—?"

"With all due respect, my prince, that will be answered later in the story. Probably all your questions will be answered in the story. So, if you please?"

"...Sorry."

An coughed. "Tyrannical narrator." He coughed again.

The wolf girl only looked to Shen. "Good. Now, Master Thundering Rhino—a _master_, then—"

Jie snarled warningly at An, whose ears wilted at her stare.

"—had arrived in Jinzhou looking for the prince, who left Gongmen without warning. No reason for that other than Prince Baojia being careless and lusting for his betrothed—"

The girl looked amused, but her fellow junior guardsman just looked aghast at her.

"Their kid is right here, Jie!" An barked, gesturing to Shen who was blushing red and looked like he wanted to sink into the ground.

Immediately Jie looked embarrassed, as if remembering she was with An and Shen and not her sisters.

"Ah, sorry—"

"This better not end up being one of your sister's super sordid romance scrolls—"

"Anyway," and Jie then mouthed "shut up" to An. "Thundering Rhino found them, but did not stop the fight, though he wasn't exactly pleased. But Su Wu, the oldest Wu Sister, who watched from her prison tower, _was_ pleased."

"Her sisters Wing and Wan got past Xuan's gorilla guards and freed Su. Reunited, the three made quick work of the guards, and then Su—"

"Wait, what about their signature attack?" An pointed out.

"What?" Shen asked, while Jie put her face in her paws.

"Their super awesome spinning attack, where their tails like connect or something and they turn themselves into this crazy whirling wheel—"

An getured wildly, his arms swift pinwheels in demonstration.

"Yes, that's how they took care of the guards, so the story goes." Jie removed her paws, then took one to whack An upside the head.

"Ow!" An yelped, but Jie continued without another look at him.

"Su Wu couldn't resist capturing Gongmen's prince with him right there, and perhaps killing one of her captor's daughters on top of that."

"The battle was quick and bold, surprise on their side. Prince Baojia was captured, but Su had failed to kill Lady Fen. She decided to simply cut and run then with her captive."

"Lady Fen immediately went after them. Thundering Rhino followed them, but not before recruiting Croc and Storming Ox, two young men he had met before." Jie glanced pointedly to Shen, and he sheepishly grinned.

"Croc had been the leader of the Wool-Stealing bandits before. He and Thundering Rhino had fought, and the Kung Fu master had convinced him to abandon his criminal life."

Shen and An nodded. They'd both heard more detailed and exciting versions of the tale.

"But such a change can't happen overnight. Street fighting was Croc's latest attempt to earn an honest living while on his journey. And despite the reputation of such a practice, it was still relatively a step up from banditry."

"No kidding," An mumbled, and Shen snickered when Jie shot him a glare, making the older boy instantly and hilariously contrite.

"Storming Ox was no thief, but had still lost his way...in a way," Jie mumbled once she realized how awkward her sentence was. She frowned when both Shen and An snickered. "He had lived in Gongmen City before. As a boy, he would skip his chores to watch Master Thundering Rhino practice Kung Fu, and had even been able to learn a little from him."

"I remember Master talk about that," Shen said in a small fond voice, remembering his first day of training with the old rhino.

"But then his kin and he had to leave Gongmen, and Ox had been disheartened by the change. It didn't exactly help that they kept moving around, never really setting roots down again."

"Yet both Storming Ox and Croc held a deep respect for Thundering Rhino still, and agreed to help the man."

"So Lady Fen, Master Thundering Rhino, Croc and Storming Ox traveled a long, long way."

"Finally one night while they rested, a small bird messenger landed at their camp. It was one of the Wu Sister's messengers, though one of their enslaved ones, kept in dangling cages..."

Shen grimaced at the thought.

"As such, his loyalty wasn't that great, and he could not abide by the Wu Sisters' current message—a summons to the different bandit clans of China. The Wu Sisters were planning to combine all the clans into a single syndicate to defeat the Imperial army and take over the entire country. Other messengers, both coerced and willing, carried the same message, but this small messenger had one particularly for the Tower of Sacred Flame, carrying word of Prince Baojia's capture for the Gongmen king."

"Master Thundering Rhino thanked the messenger, but that wasn't the end of it. He asked him to continue on his way to Gongmen to inform them of the situation, alert the guard, then to warn the other provinces."

"The makeshift rescue team doubled their pace. Finally they reached Hubei Volcano—"

"See? Told you," An whispered to Shen. Jie snarled and An mock-cowered behind Shen, who tried to hold back a chuckle. Jie rolled her eyes as the prince finally caved in and laughed.

"They freed the rest of the enslaved messengers before finding the meeting hall. Then, they separated: Thundering Rhino, Croc and Storming Ox would distract the Wu Sisters and the other clans' representatives while Lady Fen released Prince Baojia."

"The future Kung Fu Masters council were surrounded. Lady Fen found Prince Baojia and—"

"Don't make it mushy," An warned.

"—and quickly freed him, returned his sword which she had carried for him since his kidnapping, and together they joined the fight."

"One by one the bandits fell, and the Wu Sisters were divided."

"C'mon, a little more detail than that, you were havin' so much fun narrating before—

like how about Storming Ox—?"

"Yes, Storming Ox was figuring out how to break the Wus' bond, Croc blocked their wheel of death...thing, with his impenetrable hide, and once Ox spotted their weakest link, Thundering Rhino charged and broke them apart. And Prince Baojia and Lady Fen broke through the bandits as well, and they were so in sync, their enemies started to think they were dealing with a two-headed beast."

"Finally our wolf kin arrived—"

"Including the aunt who told you this?"

"Yeah, and the antelope guard were there too—"

"I wonder if your parents were there," Shen remarked, turning to An.

Jie continued in a loud voice, and Shen shot her an apologetic look.

"—and the battle just grew even more chaotic."

"Like I said before, the Wu Sisters were eventually divided again. Storming Ox and Croc worked together to stop Su. Master Thundering Rhino took care of Wan. But while the Gongmen guard took care of the rest of the bandits, Prince Baojia and Lady Fen went against Wing."

"Everyone was exhausted. And for Wing, cornered as she was and the last Wu standing, she was getting desperate. She succumbed to deep instinct, and used her fangs, biting down on Fen's leg."

Immediately Shen tried to remember if he'd ever seen his mother with a limp—but no, she was perfectly fine. Either this was exaggeration or she healed fine.

"Lady Fen gave into instinct, too, striking down with her beak. Prince Baojia was enraged, and also started to stab with his beak. The three soon became their own spinning wheel as the peafowl tried to get the snow leopard to let go, and she was just really bent on biting clean through bone and—"

An was quickly shaking his head, glaring, and Jie looked a little contrite, but Shen didn't see what the problem was. Clearly his parents had come out of it okay.

"They finally got Wing off. But Prince Baojia did not stop. He still came for the leopard's jaw and..."

Jie hesitated now. An was shaking his head and wiping a cutting claw in front of his throat. Shen stared at him, baffled.

But Jie finished in a small voice, "And he ripped out her tongue."

Shen blinked at Jie. She noticed how she and An watched him closely, their body language awkward and their faces apprehensive. Shen didn't get whatever issue they were having. Were they just worried he'd be utterly disturbed? The whole thing was just...too fantastical. The peacock couldn't really comprehend it; it really was just...legendary, to him. Just a story.

Shen turned to An. "I thought you hadn't heard this story before? But you knew what happened?"

"No, not in this one," An grumbled, glaring at Jie, who straightened up and glared back. "But it was starting to sound a bit...much..."

"It's what I heard," Jie insisted, looking defensive. "And the prince is ten, not four anymore."

An ingored her, facing Shen as he continued. "And I'd heard another story about Wing losing her tongue, but it was a completely different situation without your parents or the Kung Fu masters council and—okay, Jie, a lot more nasty than yours—and, yeah, I was just thinking Jie was...going there. Which she did." An snarled at her. "What was the freakin' point again?"

Shen's brow furrowed. "That I wasn't the only idiot to burn himself...and she was saying one of the Wu Sisters had, um, metaphorically done the same, but with...losing a tongue because she angered my father instead?"

Jie rubbed the back of her neck, looking sheepish. "Basically."

An stared at her. "You tell the prince a story about mutiliation after he freaked out about maybe losing his foot?"

The girl's eyes snapped to Shen's scarred foot, alarmed. "You were gonna lose it?"

"What? No—I mean, I was nervous, but I didn't need to be, the physician and Nana and everyone else said my foot wasn't in that sort of danger, that An extinguished the fire and got me help quickly enough that it really—"

"Then why were you worried you were going to—oh no, you told him the amputation story?" Jie whirled on An, snarling. "And you have the gall to say mine was too much for his mind?"

"It wasn't a story, I just mentioned it, and that definitely happened!"

"So did mine!" Jie seemed to think about it more, then barked out, "Most of it!" She muttered, "Probably. Auntie might've only exaggerated a little in some parts."

An growled. "Great, so Shen can ask his parents about it now if he wants to get the facts straight. 'Hey dad, did you rip out a lady's tongue after she helped kidnap you, plot to take over China, and tried to rip off your girlfriend's leg on top of that?'"

"Shen is still here," the prince grumbled, and immediately both wolves glanced at him, then turn sheepish.

"Look, the story was good," the white peacock said to Jie. "And I learned, um, that you shouldn't kidnap anyone. And it, uh, made me really glad I didn't lose a leg."

"Always a good thing, dear," the Soothsayer said, and her charge and the teen wolves turned to her, startled. "Lunch is ready."

They ate in the courtyard, the peacock and the wolves sharing awkward glances while the Soothsayer drank her tea.

###

Only when Shen could move on both feet like normal and without his staff did he walk to his parents' sparring hall, weeks after the accident.

He quietly watched them spar. Mother dueled with a staff, father with a wooden sword.

Though Shen imagined them against the bandit clans and the Wu Sisters, he still observed their technique closely, filing it away for future use. When questions rose in his mind about the fighting, he waited until his parents were done to question them.

The boy had been careful not to ask about the Wu Sisters. He'd been tempted to at least ask them if they really had fought the snow leopard criminals; but if father had really ripped one of their tongues out, it might be more than a little awkward...

His parents seemed pleased by his line of questioning, and Shen also felt a gratified calm.

But then they asked him to show them his foot. They didn't specify which, it wasn't necessary. Flushing, Shen stretched it out.

Lady Fen looked it over in her wings, Lord Baojia observing over her shoulder. She conceded that it looked better than she imagined, though her voice was still grave and father's eyes were hard.

Shen nodded eagerly though. "Uh huh, I don't even have to cover it up at all—!"

"And you seemed to walk fine on it now."

"Yeah, it doesn't hurt anymore and works like before and Master Thundering Rhino says I can go back to kung fu training tomorrow and An says we can go to the city again and—!"

There was an urgent knock at the door. The voice behind it was equally adamant about their immediate attention.

Even though they left him soon after, Shen still felt a warm glow as they had told him, "Good work, son."

###

"Intelligence is still maddeningly lacking, but we've only just become aware of it," Lord Baojia said as he paced the throne room. The eyes of the Soothsayer, Fang, Shang, Masters Thundering Rhino, Storming Ox and Croc were inescapably drawn to their Lord and Lady Fen at his side.

"But Shen is their target," the Soothsayer repeated wearily.

"My sisters are certain, as are the rest of the guard," the queen said, her face and voice unreadable.

**A/N: So there's another version of the Kung Fu masters of Gongmen meeting. I think I want to do a separate fic on just that sometime. The name of the city is mentioned in the short, the Kung Fu Panda wiki helped me confirm its spelling. Got the names of the other Wu sisters from the Kung Fu Panda wiki, though I'm not sure where they got that info. OC Jie has taken a life on her own, and hopefully Shang and Fang are recognizable as An/young Boss Wolf's parents and predecessors as leaders of the pack. More OCs detailed as Shen's extended family/clan is talked about more. The Kung Fu Panda wiki and "The Art of Kung Fu Panda" 2 iPad app says Shen's feet were burned during the panda massacre. The app gives more detail, the captioned image showing the moment where a just half-blinded Boss Wolf (thanks to Po's father) is about to crash into Shen, further specifying how Shen's talons get burned and how that ends up connecting to Boss Wolf's own scar and Po's father. That was neat, but I went with a different version here. And interestingly enough, if I recall correctly, in the actual movie, we do see Shen jump out of Boss Wolf's way, and it doesn't look like he's ever forced into the fire himself. Now when I first realized Shen's metal talons covered the scars on his feet, I imagined it was actually a lab accident where he burned himself, and I really liked that idea. "Bamboo" by Herehopelies also writes great fic on the idea that Shen burned his own feet during an experiment, though her Shen was older than this one here when burned. BUT as it should be clear above, only one of Shen's feet was burned and scarred; that is an intentional plot point that will be resolved later... **


	13. a boiling point

**Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen**

**Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 13. a boiling point: In which the calm breaks. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.**

**Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.**

**A/N: Hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**I need to replace Emperor with King in past chapters; Gongmen rulers' other titles still baffle me. Emperor seems too much like just the one title for the actual Emperor of KFP's fantasy ancient China. They surely have one, and the new KFP short where the Wu Sisters mention the Imperial army seems like the first indication that there is one. And the KFP wiki sometimes calls Shen's dad the peacock king.**

**After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"-a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit, and now this will, well, officially continue to go in more of an order with all of the stories interconnecting a lot more as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more.**

a boiling point

Shen kicked around the new ball An had given him while he lay in bed with a burnt and scarring foot, promising him a new toy to play with when he was better.

The boy paused in his kick when he noticed Nana and Qin glaring at each other as they followed his parents into the throne room.

Making a split strategic decision, the prince gently but quickly kicked his ball so that it wedged in between the softly closing door.

He dashed forward, peeking inside. When he found that no grown-up seemed to notice the cracked open door, Shen carefully removed the ball. The door remained ajar, and he stayed mostly behind it, neck craned so that he could partially see around it.

###

Lord Baojia's eyes darted back and forth between Qin and the Soothsayer as they argued.

"The line must be preserved—"

"It won't hurt to slow things down, he's still only a boy—"

"—a boy with white plumage that I'm now told by some is simply too drab and unattractive to peahens on a purely instinctive level, on top of what white means—"

"—a boy that is under too much pressure thanks to you and too many others—"

"For good reason! It is not mine, or my prince's or anyone else's fault for the way he is, but there is no changing it! We must do whatever is necessary to deal with it to secure this city and this province's future!"

"Completely ignoring what's happening now does not help that future."

The rabbit and the goat glared at each other. Qin's chest heaved, and he sighed. "My Lord and Lady cannot conceive again, no matter what new medicines are peddled to them or the research that's made; there is only one heir, it is critical that we ensure he continues the line, whether now or later."

"I understand, Qin," the Soothsayer said gently. "I only want what's best for the prince."

"But we need what's best for Gongmen City, the whole province," Lord Baojia said.

He and Lady Fen were staring at the Soothsayer very hard. The old goat stroked her beard, but regarded her superiors just as severely.

"Of course—and that hinges upon his well-being. Physically, mentally, emotionally..."

Qin's eyes darted back and forth between Gongmen's rulers and their seer advisor rapidly.

Soon Lord Baojia cut straight to the point. "Soothsayer, should there come a time when those _weren't_ dependent on each other, what would you choose? Would you put Gongmen first?"

"It'll never come to that—"

"I'll take that as a 'no.'"

The Soothsayer's eyes narrowed as Lord Baojia rose from his throne, standing by his wife for a moment before stepping down, his train dragging behind.

Lady Fen's eyes were impassive, focused on her husband and the Soothsayer, just as Qin's eyes were, though his were steadily growing more anxious.

"I've found in our reign that we've often had to do something at the expense of our own personal wants and needs—"

"My Lord, that is different—"

"—and our son's."

The old goat briefly paused at the mention of Shen.

It was enough for Lord Baojia. "Is that different?"

The Soothsayer's reply was cool. "I would have to look back on a case-by-case basis, my Lord."

Remaining by the throne and atop the raised dais, Lady Fen bluntly said, "You've grown too attached to Shen."

The old goat's eyes narrowed further. "What else would you expect from his nanny?"

"You are coddling him," Fen clarified.

The Soothsayer simply replied, "I am not."

"Not with his experiments," Lord Baojia cut in.

Before the Soothsayer could even incline her head to him, Lady Fen snapped, her voice only slightly lower, "You encourage him."

"First I coddle Shen, now I'm being _negligent_—"

She spat out the last word, her eyes harsh on the King and Queen as she too silently accused them.

For their part, the rulers' impassive composure did not crack, not even when they began, "Those experiments—"

"—are not unlike your ancestors' when they first invented fireworks. More to the point, it is something Shen **loves**, that he needs."

"The scar on his foot? Is _that_ what he needs?" Baojia's eyes narrowed.

"That will fade in time. And at the very least, it'll be a reminder of caution—a painful one, but a reminder nonetheless." The old goat stepped forward, bringing her cane down with more emphasis. "If Shen should decide he doesn't want to do it anymore, I would support him in that too."

"The boy is _ten_, he does not know what he wants," Fen said, her voice dismissive.

"In this case, he does—and to deny him would do more harm than good."

"Does he bear the same level of judgment in the matter of his future wife?"

"As you said yourself, the boy is ten—let him _be_ ten. This is not something that has to be decided now, at his and some other child's expense. The matter requires patience, not expediency."

"If that were the only issue at hand, Soothsayer," Lady Fen said, her eyes softening a fraction, and then the old goat again wondered if she had detached herself enough to put up an effective argument.

Still the old goat said softly, her eyes distant. "So this is the final straw?"

Lord Baojia closed his eyes. "Something like that," he said, almost sounding regretful. But when he opened his eyes, his voice was unyielding. "For the moment, Shen will be removed from your care."

"And placed into yours?"

The Soothsayer had told herself that Shen's parents balancing his care with their duties to the province would always be for the best.

She'd begun insisting this to herself when her feelings for the white peacock as veritably her own son became too strong. The goat had to remind herself that she must step back should his parents ever truly resume care of their own child (it would all be in Shen's best interest, never mind her own needs).

But her rulers' silence was a dismaying enough answer.

The old goat continued, protesting, "My Lord and Lady, you cannot—"

"Do not forget your place, Soothsayer." Lord Baojia's voice was hard, and the old goat simply glared, the hoof around her cane tight. "Or ours. We are still Shen's parents, not you."

The implied threat weighed heavily on the Soothsayer, galled her. "At the moment," they said—if her Lord and Lady wanted, they could separate her from Shen forever, and it would be utterly lawful by their blood right as his parents, not to mention backed by their sovereignty in Gongmen province.

"Shen will be sent traveling around the province, as you had suggested before—"

Lady Fen told the Soothsayer, ignoring the way the goat's glare intensified and the grip on her cane tightened.

"—under supervised guard and care."

"Just not mine." The old goat didn't even bother to temper the bitterness in her voice.

"No, you'll be needed here at court."

The Soothsayer bit back the urge to bark out a harsh laugh in their faces. She kept her glare.

"Of course," she practically growled.

###

It was then that Shen, wide-eyed, broke away from the throne room door with his toy, quiet in his escape.

###

The Soothsayer continued before Lord Baojia and Lady Fen could dismiss her and Qin.

She said softly, "Safer abroad than at home, isn't he?"

"We wish to see if keeping him on the move will help," the king conceded. "You accompanying him probably would not interfere with that objective—but as we said, you have grown too attached to our heir, and he to you."

The Soothsayer closed her eyes as she and Qin were finally dismissed.

The rabbit hastily bowed; the old goat's was much more grudging. The two left, Qin shooting the Soothsayer a guilty and sympathetic look. The goat ignored him.

Lord Baojia and Lady Fen returned to the throne, summoning their next appointment.

###

"How could they—?"

"I know, it doesn't sound—"

"She cares, she cares a lot, and they want to take her away?"

"That's really—"

"And they can't talk to her like that, they can't—!"

"Ouch!" An flinched back as Shen's tail feathers angrily snapped open right in his face while the boy paced and had passed him at the wrong moment.

The white peacock turned away quickly—that only snapped the tail feathers around the other side of the wolf's head. Shen mumbled his apology as he tried to make his tail feathers lie flat.

An laughed weakly, trying to lighten the mood. "Wow, those are coming in nice, huh?"

Shen gave up on getting his tail feathers down, glaring at his scarred talon—only _lightly _scarred, even his parents had agreed, or he thought they agreed. They were practiced rulers, well versed in deception...

An began more seriously, "Look, Shen—"

"I'm gonna talk to my parents."

"O-okay, just—"

The prince dashed out, determined.

"—don't, uh, freak. Out."

The young wolf looked bleakly at the empty air.

###

"Mother—"

Shen cut himself off when he saw her speaking with a council member. He waited, trying not to shuffle his feet or twitch, to look calm and royal.

When they went to the throne room, Shen followed docilely behind. Father was there too, fortunately. The boy sat by the throne, trying to meditate.

He kept remembering how he'd play here while his father worked, even his mother would be there often enough; he couldn't remember doing that recently. He was at lessons more, trained with Master Thundering Rhino more, spent more time working at De's black smithy and experimenting in his lab and wandering around the city with An. That, and he'd been sorta sick again and on the mend after the fire.

While he sat, the prince practiced in his head what he'd say to his parents. Again, Shen realized he wasn't really meditating as Thundering Rhino had demonstrated.

Once his parents were left alone by the council, Shen stood up and approached them.

"Yes, son?"

The prince made sure to bow deeply before them.

"I—I overheard what you told Nan—the Soothsayer this morning."

Shen could actually feel the atmosphere grow colder.

"Son—"

"I promised I'd be more careful in the lab, and I will—and I'll meet with all the other peahens you want and pick someone or you pick someone and I'll do whatever you say, I—I'll train and study harder, I won't get sick so much—I _haven't_ gotten sick as much—I mean, I did get burned and got sick after that 'cause of infection, but that was an accident and I'm all better and it won't happen again, I swear—and I'll be a strong prince, and a strong ruler someday, so you don't have to—I mean, can't Nana come with, please—?"

"Shen, it isn't just that," his mother cut him off, taking care to be gentle.

"Then what is it?" The boy's brow furrowed. He insisted, pragmatic, "If you tell me, I can—"

"No, you can't, dear."

The young prince felt something snap, something that was built up and already old in his time.

"I can to, you just never let me try, show you that I can—!"

"It's not that, Shen." Lord Baojia sighed. "It's something you'll understand when you're older."

The child shook his head. Shen knew he was losing ground. He grew desperate. "You can't take Nana away, you can't—please—"

"We are not taking her away—"

"You are too—!"

And Shen's tail feathers flared up, but he didn't bother trying to flatten them. He glared up at his parents.

"You're just jealous—no, you're not even **jealous**—you don't care, you never did, not really—you s-said so yourself, that G-Gongmen's more important, and—and you just care about me taking over and h-having babies so your stupid line can continue and—"

"_Prince Shen_."

Just as they instinctively went up, Shen's tail feathers lowered into a wilted train, his parents glaring at him from above.

In that moment the boy fervently hoped they would say he was wrong—that they did care, that he was mistaken, of course they cared...

"We know what is best for you," said his father.

"It won't be forever," said his mother.

Shen stared at them. He tried to formulate a response—but then another council member ran in with another matter that simply needed his parents' attention right away, and the boy just left. He did not want to wait and hear his parents' inevitable words, that they had to deal with this now, that they're sorry, that they'll talk later.

He had heard it all before, never once making a difference.

But Nana—Nana usually made him feel better, even just a little. She was there, practically always. It was like he was never an afterthought to her, like he actually came first, even before Gongmen, for _once_ before Gongmen...

Shen couldn't imagine her gone. And no matter what his parents said, it felt like she would be. Forever.

The boy ran, again. This time from the tower.

###

The Soothsayer had composed herself, and made her way to Shen's room in their apartment. She had to tell him, and inform him of the bright side of things. The old goat was steadily convincing herself of the bright side too.

As her Lord and Lady said, it was only temporary, and she did trust that they wouldn't make it permanent. And if it kept him away from assassins, it was more than worth the separation.

And the boy was healthier, he fell ill less now; his parents must think him so, to consider separating him from the Soothsayer, as versed in medicine as she was. Though she'd shared enough information with the physician and his team, and they were experienced and well trained. Perhaps his parents thought them enough for their child's care, for surely they would send the physician and at least some of his people with the boy on his travels.

And the boy _was_ growing. Perhaps the time was growing fast where she would be officially dismissed from his position as his nanny. Not that she would be gone, but…things would be awkward, she supposed. She may not be his caretaker always in official title, but she still would be there, to look after him like any parent—for all intents and purposes, she was that to Shen, and he was her child, plain and simple, even though she had never planned on being a mother to anyone.

Still, not for the first time the Soothsayer thought things may've been easier if she just adopted Shen. It was not lost on her how treacherous a thought it was to her superiors.

"My prince, we need to talk—"

The old goat stared at his empty room.

She shook her head. Should've gone to his lab first. His month was up after all, and he'd been eager to return to his work.

But she didn't find him there either.

The Soothsayer checked the wolves' barracks next. She asked An, who shrugged and said he hadn't seen Shen since he'd gone to speak with his parents.

Alarm bells ringing, the old goat questioned him more, and the adolescent wolf reluctantly admitted what Shen had told him, how he overheard—well, almost all of it.

The old goat noted how An made no mention of the danger of assassins. Even though he was a guardsman now, the boy was still young, and such information would be restricted to more senior guards.

It seemed likely to the Soothsayer that Shen had not heard of the more immediate danger, if he had not told his older friend.

An didn't even need to be told to start looking for the prince. He informed his kin and they went tracking, while the Soothsayer looked for Master Thundering Rhino. He hadn't seen Shen either; neither did Storming Ox or Master Croc. Sensing the old goat's rising alarm, the Kung Fu masters went looking with the wolves. The antelope guard soon joined them.

The Soothsayer then checked De's black smithy. Still nothing.

The old goat was about to send a messenger to inform Lord Baojia and Lady Fen of their son's absence. She needn't have even thought of it, they had heard the commotion.

The old goat stumbled upon council members anxiously watching Baojia leave them behind.

One, an elder sheep, spoke up in a disbelieving voice, "My Lord, where are you—?"

"To look for the prince."

"The guards and the Masters Council are already searching—"

Baojia continued to step past the shorter man.

"Sir, please, this may cause undue panic for the citizens—"

"He may have a point, my Lord," Fen said, stepping forward. Baojia froze at his wife's voice.

The council members' eyes darted between the rulers, their anxiety growing. The Soothsayer carefully watched her superiors.

"I will search for the prince while my Lord remains here," Fen continued, wings folded out of sight in her sleeves.

The tension in Baojia's shoulders marginally fled. "Very well," he said, his voice clipped.

The Soothsayer waited with her Lord as Lady Fen left with the rest of the search party.

Later, the old goat felt her stomach drop when she saw smoke in the city. News of the fire spreading from one of the harbor taverns reached the tower soon after.

Still, no one had seen the prince.

**A/N: The core of this part has been considered, planned, and drafted/written for a while now, so I've just been rather waiting eagerly to get to this. And I'm super amused it ended up being unlucky chapter 13. Part of this was inspired by bat-snake's fanart-fic, where the Soothsayer was dismissed entirely as Shen's nanny when he was ten. So, back in a comment for chapter 5, international-wonderland wondered if Shen's parents would send him away after the first assassination attempt (that pun was totally unintended at first). At that time, I was planning something really similar to that, but for a later chapter, when he was ten-which is now. So congrats international-wonderland for that pretty accurate prediction (and for your fic getting recced on !). **

**I don't remember the source, but I read somewhere online that just genetically, normal blue peahens don't find the white plumage of a leucistic peacock attractive ('albino' used more popularly though it's not the same, and used in this fic since I don't think this ancient fantasy China knows there's a difference between leucistic and albino, or that there is such a thing as leucistic-but based on info seen in the film, it seems like Shen is more leucistic than albino). **

**Never mentioned this before, but I always imagined Shen's dad to be voiced by Hector Elizondo (VA of Wan Shi Tong in "Avatar: The Last Airbender") and Shen's mom to be voiced by Nicole Kidman (as seen in "The Others"). Jie's voice by E.G. Daily (VA of Buttercup in "Powerpuff Girls"), and Qin's voice by Hugh Laurie (VA of Dr. Cockroach in "Monsters Versus Aliens").**


	14. where there's smoke

**Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen**

**Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 14. where there's smoke: In which there is a fire.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.**

**Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.**

**A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**I need to replace Emperor with King in past chapters; Gongmen rulers' other titles still baffle me. Emperor seems too much like just the one title for the actual Emperor of KFP's fantasy ancient China. They surely have one, and the new KFP short where the Wu Sisters mention the Imperial army seems like the first indication that there is one. And the KFP wiki sometimes calls Shen's dad the peacock king.**

**After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"-a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit, and now this will, well, officially continue to go in more of an order with all of the stories interconnecting a lot more as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more.**

where there's smoke

Shen's attempt at being a stowaway was short-lived.

"Come back here!" The boy ignored the sailors, running through the alleys and leaping from a shop awning to rickshaw to balcony to roof.

Shen concluded that the crew of the ship he had tried to stow away on and who tried to pursue him were visitors to Gongmen City, as he rather easily lost them.

The prince doubled back, jumping under the boardwalk. From in between the wooden supports Shen watched the ship he'd tried to board. Some of the sailors had already returned, grumbling and still looking incensed.

It had been a reckless stunt. The boy was just curious how much he could get away with on the ship. Which apparently wasn't very much, the crew had found him quickly before he could find a really good hiding spot that either hid or camoflaged his freakish plumage.

It wasn't like he was super determined to leave on the ship. It would kind of defeat his whole anger, if he actually left when he didn't really want to.

Shen walked under the boardwalk, grumbling. He wouldn't mind travelling, actually; he was curious about visiting the places on the maps he liked to look at. But to be separated from Nana entirely—it wouldn't be like the first time she left when he was four, his parents had made that perfectly clear, no matter what protest they put up.

The boy didn't want to lose his guardian, he needed her...

Shen froze when he heard the familiar crackle of fire—no, the roar of a very large fire.

The sound of shouts and screams was practically silmutaneous to it. Shen climbed back to the top of the boardwalk, and stared at the tavern on fire.

It wasn't the only tavern in Gongmen City, but it was still the one a lot of An and his kin seemed to visit frequently—

Shen found himself running toward the burning tavern. He couldn't keep his eyes off the large fire. It was red like his eyes, but not really quite the same shade, and mixed with oranges and yellows and even the gray and black of the smoke. As the boy ran, he felt somewhat hypnotized, he couldn't remember ever seeing a fire this big before.

He struggled through the chaos in the streets. The kung fu training helped him weave in and out of the crowds, but the noise was ungodly as the fire spread, hungrily licking at neighboring rooftops. The sounds of screams and shouts persisted, he saw younger children crying in the streets—but older ones were helping a number of the adults organize and carry water to the blaze from the river cutting through the city and the wells scattered about.

A woman's despairing scream jolted him, making something suddenly stick in his throat. He suddenly and very keenly felt the burden of his heritage; these were his people, they would be his sole responsibility someday. He had to do what he could to help.

Passing a dark alley, Shen joined one of the lines to a well. A grown-up boar passed him a bucket of water without looking. No one noticed him. His ominous coloring was nothing compared to a real fire that threatened to burn everyone and everything down right now.

The prince noted people ahead of him throwing their water at random, until a fox stopped them and began to have groups take turns throwing their water in combined waves.

"One-two-three-go!"

Shen swung his bucket with the rest of his group at the fox's command, their combined wave hissing against the fire. No matter how hard the boy looked, he didn't see any wolves come out of the tavern or among the burned already being treated.

The prince ran past the alley with others to the river, where they dipped down and refilled their buckets. Again and again they did this, and the fire marginally dimmed.

Coughing, Shen struggled to keep his bucket upright as the smoke finally got to him. He started to slow down just short of passing the alley, straggling behind others dashing ahead with their water.

He silently cursed himself for failing to cover his beak before joining the efforts against the fire. He would have to stop and rectify that soon, but after he poured his share—

Shen passed that dark alley alone.

The boy felt a large claw bite into his wing and drag him deeper into the shadows. Before he could strike out or even scream, another claw pinned his beak shut with a wet and stinking cloth.

There was the noise of his bucket clattering to the ground. Later there was the sound of his muffled shout, but that faded as his head grew dark and fuzzy. He slumped down in a stranger's embrace, no longer aware of the fire or anything else.

###

Various sailors, foreign and local, helped during and after the fire. One group bickered as they worked.

"Aren't freakin' peacocks blue?"

"I'm telling you, that was a ghost—"

"That was the boy prince of Gongmen City."

"The ghost prince?"

"No, idiot, the normal kind!"

"'Normal?' Those prissy birds are blue, not white—"

"Don't call them 'prissy,' not after what one of them did to my face—"

"And here I thought you were born that way."

"Shut it, you—"

"Excuse me, gentlemen," a rich voice called to them, and the sailors turned to a finely robed figure of a rhino carrying a large hammer.

"But did you say you saw a white peacock? A child?" He asked, his voice smooth, yet carrying an undeniable tension and even a shred of threat.

###

Shen woke up with his beak still clamped shut. He blinked down at it. His beak was tightly muzzled by some sort of thick fabric.

The boy tried to move, tried to think, fighting his wooziness. He realized he couldn't move much.

He looked down. There was a heavy metal collar on his neck, chained to the wooden ceiling.

Chains pinned his wings tight to his body. A chain stretched taut from the wooden floor, tying his legs together.

Heart pounding in his chest, Shen tried to wrap his head around the fact that he was suspended and utterly tied down from both ceiling and the floor—which was rocking slowly.

When the young prince focused, he could hear the slosh of waves around him, coming through the walls.

The boy squeezed his eyes shut, starting to shake. He thought he should scream, he felt like screaming, whimpering at least. He definitely wanted to cry out for Nana, his parents, An, Master Thundering Rhino, Ox, Croc, anyone—

_Nana Nana Mama Baba Nana An Nana Nana __**Nana**_

"You're awake. I'll be back with food." Shen's eyes snapped open at the voice. It was a grown-up's, a woman's. She was behind him, Shen tried to turn—and found he could not, the chains were too tight, forcing him to face only one side of the ship.

Finally he whimpered.

He squeezed his eyes shut again, burning as he tried to force the tears back, tears wouldn't help right now, they were useless—so was whimpering, actually. The boy choked back the sickly sound, gulping harshly.

There was a wooden creak, and Shen stiffened. He madly struggled in his chains again.

"None of that now, I need to remove your muzzle—"

The stranger chided him. He heard the pull of thread, followed by the muzzle coming off. Shen coughed, long and hard.

Near the end of his coughing fit, Shen panted as the stranger came around, facing him. With a jolt, he realized she was a snow leopard, hooded and with a bowl of soup in her paws.

The feline spooned out some of the broth, offering it to him. "Open up now, princeling."

She sidestepped as the young peacock plunged his beak toward her, only succeeding in knocking the soup out of her paws.

Rolling her eyes, the snow leopard left, her footsteps ascending. "We'll see how long you'll go without food."

"_I don't want food, I want to go home_!" Shen screamed at her, his voice cracking with terror and rage and pleading.

When the door slammed, the prince squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back tears again.

Once the smell of the soup reached him and his stomach growled, Shen sniffled. And then he cursed, spitting out every foul word he'd learned from An and his pack, and then he started to sob at the thought of them and everyone else back at the Tower of Sacred Flame.

**A/N: Upon going over this again, I realized the description of Shen's binding reminded me of how he ties up the Furious Five for their execution...so it just seemed to become even more appropriate and an eerie connection. Young Shen's kidnapping has also been planned a while, but the new short made everything click better. Hope you enjoyed, and remember to leave a comment please.**


	15. tick tock tick tock

**Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen**

**Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 15. tick tock tick tock: A young Shen waits and entertains an introduction, while his father receives a message and reinforcements.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.**

**Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.**

**A/N: **

**I need to replace Emperor with King in past chapters; Gongmen rulers' other titles still baffle me. Emperor seems too much like just the one title for the actual Emperor of KFP's fantasy ancient China. They surely have one, and the new KFP short where the Wu Sisters mention the Imperial army seems like the first indication that there is one. And the KFP wiki sometimes calls Shen's dad the peacock king.**

**After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"-a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit, and now this will, well, officially continue to go in more of an order with all of the stories interconnecting a lot more as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more.**

tick tock tick tock

"You're awfully quiet."

Shen flinched at the new voice. It was another grown-up woman. He guessed that his cursing before either hadn't been loud enough to make a racket up on deck or it was a forgettable thing.

"It's been a day, and you still haven't begged for food or water—"

Another snow leopard entered Shen's line of sight, meeting his fearful suspicion. She wore no hood, her ears freely popping out, and her eyes were two different colors.

"—though I suppose princes don't beg, hmm?"

The boy was reminded of begging his parents not to separate him from Nana. He kept his beak shut, but his eyes blinked rapidly at the leopard, and his head pounded.

"Are you not hungry? Thirsty, princeling?"

_Yes, horribly so_. Instead, Shen repeated in a low, drained voice, "I want to go home."

"Not even a 'please?'"

Tongue heavy and feeling like it was sinking into his throat, Shen was reminded again of his parents, he'd asked them to please not take Nana away...

The leopard snorted. She slipped out a package, and unwrapped it, revealing a bean bun.

Mouth starting to water, Shen tried to seal his beak shut.

"Come, eat—"

This leopard was also met with a beak desperately lashing out. But she did not stop at dodging like the first leopard.

A strong paw swiftly wrapped around the boy's beak and yanked it brutally upward at a painful angle. Shen made a strangled scream, a sound that only heightened as she kept forcing it up and back, up and back, no matter how hard he writhed or even tried to twist his neck away. The chains wouldn't let him escape, her claw was too tight...

Finally she released him, and he cried out. Shen gasped for air and worked his beak over, still aching, but it didn't seem horribly damaged as he'd feared.

Unlike the first leopard, this one had also kept the bean bun in one hand, nothing had dropped to the floor.

Her paw fell heavily on his neck, strangely gentle as she started to massage wherever the ache had spread, even ruffling his crest feathers. Still the boy shivered at her touch.

She coaxed his head down, toward the offered bean bun. "Now eat—"

The child peacock spat in her face.

Immediately the leopard backhanded him, and while Shen's head spun and throbbed, he was thankful she hadn't unsheathed her claws.

"Su!" A man's gruff voice called from the deck above.

The leopard bit into the bean bun, her eyes on Shen as she left. The prince made sure to hold her stare until she was gone, then he slumped back down, breathing very hard.

It was minutes before he'd managed to calm himself so he wouldn't hyperventilate. That was the last thing he needed.

###

"Oh c'mon—!"

And the antelope commander eyed Deshi, the panda cursing the burnt wreckage before them in Gongmen City.

"This, on top of everything else! Of all the lousy luck..."

"Don't bait Hui," Commander Zei chided the soldier. Deshi scoffed as the troop picked their way through the wreckage.

"Right, like I'm gonna tip toe around some superstitious old coot who's a bit too thick to see the obvious problems in calling your province's heir a bad omen..."

"I'm old, not deaf," snarled the veteran gibbon as he came up from behind Deshi.

The panda rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Look, Commander, do you need all of us to carry this message? 'Cause the rest of the troop and I can help out around here while you let the King and Queen know, then we can head off for Bik—"

"Then we will await their orders, Lieutant," Zei reminded his comrade.

"Right, right," Deshi muttered, his eyes distant.

The rest of the mixed-species troop warily watched the two. Hui watched the panda rather carefully, then said, "Two could carry a message, panda. Go on ahead with our commander—he'll need a fool to make him look good in front of royalty."

Zei nodded, and Deshi shot the old gibbon a lopsided smirk. "Just don't fall over dead while we're gone."

And so the panda and the antelope continued to the Tower of Sacred Flame.

###

Shen's mind raced as hunger and thirst continued to come at him from all sides. The boy couldn't remember ever consciously going this long without water and food before.

_What am I doing? Mom and Dad and Nana would want me to be strong, to be smart, to be calm. Is __**this**__ calm? Refusing food and water that's clearly not poisoned_—_if they wanted me dead, they would've done it already. And it's not like hunger or thirst is doing anything except making me even weaker._

Shen admitted he was just giving into panic with his constant refusal to eat and drink from his captors' paws at every chance. His parents would think him even more foolish—

Hearing pawprints down the steps, Shen prepared to give in. His stomach throbbed at the thought of food, throat aching at the thought of being quenched.

The third snow leopard was hooded and a scarf covered her snout. She held a waterskin. Another one was on her belt.

Moving before Shen could think or recall his decision, the leopard had gripped his beak tightly, forcing it open and closing it shut again over the mouth of the waterskin.

The boy squirmed as she forced the water down his throat. He gagged, choking—

The leopard snapped the waterskin away, and Shen hunched over as much as he could, coughing out the water.

Through watering eyes he saw her lift the second waterskin from her belt, the other had dropped to the floor—

Shen flinched, but she caught him easily, this time forcefeeding him soup from the second waterskin. Again the boy writhed, gagging.

Eyes squeezed shut, the boy vomited once she pulled the waterskin away. Shen was uncertain how much food or water made it into his stomach at all.

Panting, eyes still closed, the prince just heard the thick slap of the second waterskin hit the floor and foosteps quietly pad away.

###

"Anything?"

"It's not just the ash that's clouding our scent, but chemicals specialized just for that purpose, probably released by the fire—which was no accident," Fang answered.

Lord Baojia's eyes narrowed and he was about to ask another question, when the Soothsayer alerted him to a pair of messengers.

Patiently the king met with them in the courtyard, knowing they may have information on Shen.

The antelope commander and his panda lietuant bowed before him. The Soothsayer watched the pair closely, also hoping for news about her charge.

"Sir, we came to the defense of a town under attack by the Wu Sisters."

The peacock's talons violently flexed, scraping against the ground. The old goat's hooves tightened around her cane.

"They escaped with our medic as a captive, my Lord," Lietuant Deshi added urgently.

"They're probably in need of a healer's services," added Commander Zei. "The Wus are also capturing birds again, to gain control over the messenger system and cripple our communications."

"Which is why we had to come all the way here to let you know, instead of going after them and saving our medic," the panda muttered bitterly.

"Do you have any idea where their base of operations are this time?" Baojia asked, his voice mostly level.

"Negative, sir," Zei answered with a furrowed brow.

Deshi was beginning to watch his Lord very closely. "Was the fire here their doing, sir?"

"That, and undoubtedly the kidnapping of the prince," snarled Baojia, his eyes flashing.

###

No one had come in...a while, Shen wasn't sure how much time had passed.

His eyelids were so heavy. All his energy seemed gone. Maybe now he could sleep without bad dreams. Some had been so bad, he'd wake up screaming and only stop when new, strange, gruff voices from up on deck snarled at him to shut up or they'd come down and make him be quiet.

Shen was now too weak to lift his head. If not for the collar chain, it would've fallen against his chest.

A claw tip needed to lift it up.

Red eyes blinked wearily at the leopard—the leopards, all three were there now.

"Do you know who we are, princeling?" Su said, her voice quiet. Shen realized it was she who lifted his head.

"...The Wu Sisters," he finally managed to whisper in a scrape of a voice.

"Good. Now are you ready to eat? To drink?" And the hooded sister—Wan, Shen assumed—offered him a bowl of rice, a jug of juice.

"...Yes."

"Yes, what?" Su said, her hint clear to the boy.

The 'please' was on his tongue. But he swallowed hard, and narrowed his eyes.

"Not. Saying. It."

"Now remember your manners, princeling; say 'please,'" and the paw Su used to hold up his head grew tense.

"Doesn't work with my parents, I'm not gonna bother with you," Shen said lowly, his voice cracking slightly, yet somehow quiet steady. "And you're not gonna let me die of thirst, you're not gonna let me starve to death. If you wanted me dead, you would've done it by now."

"Perhaps we want you to die a slow, agonizing death," murmured Wan, her eyes flashing to the sister with her mouth covered, and Shen concluded she must be Wing.

"Still doesn't make sense," the boy murmured. He was so tired. "And I think you three must make a little sense, at least. You do know who I am, don't you?"

Su's mismatched eyes narrowed at the echoed statement.

Shen hoarsely continued, matter-of-factly, "I'm the only heir to Gongmen City. Either people think I'm better dead or a hostage." How many assassination and kidnapping attempts had there been since the first one? None had been successful until now. "You haven't killed me yet, so you must be the—the latter, the former—no, the latter, I think." The boy knew his mind was beginning to drift, all of him starting to shut down, his vocabulary failing him.

Wan's eyes narrowed; Wing's own were vacant; and Su smiled thinly. She said, "Bear in mind though, how swiftly your position can change between the two—but well played, princeling." Su's voice even sounded warm.

Shen cried out as she backhanded him, claws bared this time.

The boy gasped, already he felt a horrible burning sting. Eyes squeezing shut, Shen tried to keep the whimpers back and ignore the sticky dampness on his cheek.

"Now, now, your majesty..."

And a claw roughly took his head, forcing his eyes to snap open. It was Wan's paw that held him now; and in the other, she offered him the food that smelled so wonderfully.

"...you'll need some awareness to eat your dinner..."

Shen's beak plunged into the rice bowl, and he quickly gulped down the juice with Wan's help.

When the boy was done, he noticed the line of dried feathers down his cheeks, and concluded to his dismay and humiliation that he had cried, and so obviously in front of his enemy.

(What would his parents think?)

**A/N: Deshi isn't exactly an OC****—****that's all I'm saying right now, though I imagine it might be kinda obvious who he's supposed to be.**

**As always, feedback is super appreciated. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	16. learning curve

**Title: The Life and Times of Lord Shen**

**Summary: The story of the albino peacock of Gongmen City, from cradle to corruption. Chapter 16. learning curve: Young Shen must make allowances.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Kung Fu Panda or its sequel(s) and spin-offs, that's all DreamWorks' honor.**

**Spoilers: Both Kung Fu Panda movies.**

**A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, hope you enjoy the new chapter!**

**I need to replace Emperor with King in past chapters; Gongmen rulers' other titles still baffle me. Emperor seems too much like just the one title for the actual Emperor of KFP's fantasy ancient China. They surely have one, and the new KFP short where the Wu Sisters mention the Imperial army seems like the first indication that there is one. And the KFP wiki sometimes calls Shen's dad the peacock king.**

**After a lot of thought, the summary's been revised. At first, this was meant to be more like how chirpingfish's "Albinism" is turning out to be, my older Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Mr. Fuzzy Jacket" and Shiruba Neko's Fullmetal Alchemist fic "Behind Red Eyes"-a real collection of stories about the main character, Shen in this case. A collection in that it would be rather nonlinear, and Shen's past was sorta like only one of the topics addressed. But as this went on, I felt like all the parts were connecting chronologically/linearly even just a little bit, and now this will, well, officially continue to go in more of an order with all of the stories interconnecting a lot more as my interpretation of Shen's past is explored and his development from innocence to corruption is tracked and hopefully explained a bit more.**

learning curve

What passed for a bath on the ship were two buckets of water, and then Shen was back to being chained. The boy was shamed by his inaction while briefly unbound, but his body had been so stiff as to be utterly useless. And he'd been suitably frightened by Wing, the youngest Wu, lurking in the corner and pointedly examining her unsheathed claws. His cheek, though bandaged-and by Su herself, of all people-continued to ache.

Still the prince felt he had never been so filthy before. Shen had never minded playing in the mud or dirtying his clothes in all the smoke and such from working in his lab or De's forge, but this was utterly intolerable. The boy longed to wash himself, found that even easier to wish for than home...until his mind wandered to the bathhouse at home...

Shifting irritably again, Shen's bandaged cheek twitched. He still wanted badly to pick at the wound. But more than that, he wanted to sleep, and he closed his eyes, trying again.

###

There were sounds and movement, and Shen wearily opened his eyes, fighting back the instinct to yawn as he woke up.

"...well shoot, he's up."

"My, the princeling really _does_ have bad luck."

The boy snapped up, completely alert—just in time to comprehend the wet stinking cloth wrapped around his beak and putting him back under again.

Inwardly he cursed before a familiar darkness claimed him.

###

"Thank you, Bik," mumbled the small sparrow as the large panda finished bandaging his leg.

She nodded to the patient, giving a small smile. It turned into a frown she tried to hide as the large yak guard came forward to return the small bird to his cage. The panda gave up on trying to hide her displeasure when her own guards came to escort her back to her cell.

As she walked in between the yaks, she noticed movement on a floor below them. Her guards shared in her curiosity, glancing down as well.

Bik's eyes narrowed as she watched the Wu Sisters return. They then grew wide in alarm as she noticed one of them carried a small white figure in chains, the crest feathers on his small head prominent.

"The prince-?"

"C'mon, Bik-" One of the guards snapped, pulling the panda away from the homecoming.

###

Wing was banned from the task. Her turn to feed the prince had devolved into force feeding him, after all. And although Su was able to take advantage of that in trying to make the peacock a more agreeable prisoner, she and Wan agreed that they did not truly want to entertain any more wild, unexpected behavior from their youngest sister at this point in the operation.

It was decided that Wing should not be left alone with the prince again, though both Su and Wan wondered how long they could keep that up.

Still, neither the oldest or the middle Wu wanted to give the prince a proper bath, and so they settled on a quick game of dice to decide who would.

Wan stoically tolerated Su's victorious grin.

The middle Wu had taken the unconscious princeling to the new fortress' inner hot springs. In the other arm, she held a basket of bathing supplies.

Glowering down at the warm pool and glancing at Gongmen's heir in her grasp, she stretched out the filthy bird by the collar of his robe over the water, and let go.

###

Shen's first thought was that the Wu Sisters were drowning him.

Springing up from the water and spluttering, Shen desperately wiped at his eyes, he had to get a grip on his surroundings. His talons felt rock; at least he was in a shallow part. His body ached from all the new and available freedom in movement, but adrenaline rush got him past the stiffness fairly well.

The boy looked up into Wan's hooded face, panting.

His eyes darted around the rock walls-

"Still think we won't kill you, your majesty?" She propped a paw on her hip, a basket in her other arm. "Drowning would be a bad way to go, wouldn't it?"

Shen shivered as Mee's shrill voice echoed in his head about his parents drowning him if they could've, of the nightmares of water surrounding him in blue waves, taunting him with the color he'd never have; and his parents just walking away, no matter how much he screamed for them, the water rising higher...

"To wash yourself and your clothes," Wan muttered as she laid the basket down, shoving it to the water's edge. "Don't be stupid," she warned, locking eyes with the boy.

Shen's eyes lowered to the basket. His wings shifted through the supplies. Then he left the basket alone and moved to disrobe.

The boy froze when he realized Wan still faced him, reclining on a rock formation as if sunning herself. She lazily watched him.

"...Um-"

"What?"

"Couldn't you, uh, turn around or close your eyes for a second—?"

"Guard duty." Her voice was apathetic.

Shen stared at the snow leopard. Then he swept a wing around the cave space. There were some lanterns lit, and the space was closed, with only one entrance, and that lay behind Wan.

"Where am I going to run to in the handful of seconds it'll take you to close your eyes? Like you don't have more guards backing you up—!"

"This isn't the palace tower. Suck it up—or would you rather I wash you? Are you that pampered, princeling?"

Scowling, Shen turned around and quickly disrobed, resisting the urge to curse as his wings actually fumbled around the belt. As the cloth started to slip off, Shen immediately sank into the water up to his neck, trying to stave off the humiliation and pretending Wan wasn't an observant guard. At least she had sounded utterly bored and apathetic, except for her warning against stupidity.

The prince roughly emptied the basket, then quickly filled it with water and poured it over himself. He added the soap and angrily applied the brush. This was more of a bath, and the boy thought he would've enjoyed the chance to properly wash himself, but he was utterly incensed and shamed and terrified and completely homesick—

"So the little prince knows how to wash his own clothes?" The middle Wu pondered, amused as she watched Shen begin washing his robe.

The boy stared determinedly down at his robe as he scrubbed it down. Nana had taught him when he was smaller, after he had curiously watched her tend to his own clothes.

Shen saw red at the thought of his guardian; what if he never saw her again? And whose fault would that be? The Wus', and his own, for falling into their clutches—

The red dispelled when he heard a sickening rip. The boy looked down, and found he had angrily and unconsciously torn his robe somewhere. He had torn it, not Nana, who would've ripped a piece clean off and eaten it by now...

Wan laughed. "Does the prince know how to mend his own clothes? I'm sure we have some thread and needle about, to see if you can. Though you'll probably just prick yourself." She laughed again, and Shen's anger toward her and the rest of her blasted kin started to overwhelm him once more. He started to tremble. "I wonder if you can cook? Perhaps we could set you up as our servant, our own little Yeh-Shen—"

The prince snapped. Only An could make that mocking connection, he had been the first to tell Shen of his name's similiarity to that commoner-turned-princess in the stories.

The boy swept his tail feathers out, splashing a wave of water over the snow leopard.

Shen didn't feel any better when Wan's laughter stopped and she snapped up, giving him a very blank look. He clutched at his torn robe, now absolutely terrified.

Wan got up and started moving toward the boy, who stayed put and _oh gods I should move why can't I move_

Shen stood paralyzed with fear, looking up at the snow leopard who still stared at him blankly.

Then in a very swift movement Wan grabbed his skull and shoved him under the water. Shen flailed and kicked for a few seconds, and then the leopard let him up, gasping for air.

Her claw still wrapped around his skull, she said loudly in an even voice over his gasping, "So, I know—this is kinda extreme for a childish tantrum, right? But understand this, princeling: you are our prisoner, and any sign of revolt won't be easily tolerated."

She let him go, and Shen slumped down, panting and clutching at his robe, unable to recall if it had torn more during the struggle.

"Dry yourself and your clothes, I grow weary of this," Wan ordered, and Shen despondently obeyed.

###

Shen didn't hide his surprise at the large yak guard stitching his robe up. It was still a bit of a shock to the boy, to have such a large creature expertly do work that seemed comparatively too delicate for his size. The yak—whose left ear had a bit of it ripped out and was now scarred over—didn't have much to do. Shen now knew he had only torn his robe once, and at the elbow.

The yak snapped off the last of the thread with his teeth, released his wing, then left the cell. Shen tried to focus on the finished sewing job rather than the way the door clicked shut, locked. The boy thought the guard had done a fine job: everything was sewn tight, no loose threads at all.

Picking at the fixed elbow one more time, Shen looked around the stone cell. There was a straw pallet and a waste basket tucked away in the opposite corner.

That was about it, but the boy still walked around his cell. He paused at the farthest wall from the exit; he'd heard a sound. When he leaned closer, finally pressing himself against the stone and focusing his hardest, Shen jolted away with shock. He blinked at the wall, then returned to his previous position and renewed his focus again. Yes, that was it—the faint sound of wind and rushing water!

Then Shen realized the watery noise was more below; he slid down the wall, lowering himself to the corner cross-section between floor and wall. It was there he heard the current the most, and the boy guessed the water was below him, perhaps it was a river.

Shen went back to the other walls, listening harder. This time he heard the faint sound of rushing wind outside those parts too. It was about halfway through the entire cell that the sound dimmed considerably, to the point of nonexistence.

Plopping down on his pallet, the boy wished for parchment and a brush to draw out his thoughts. He could only visualize in his head. Eventually Shen hazarded that the layout of his cell was more complicated than he first thought. That his current prison stretched out from the main portion of the stone structure—a mountain seemed likier to Shen than a volcano, even if he'd just bathed in hot springs. The cell was cold, and surely a volcano would have at least some trace of warmth everywhere in its structure, right?

So, the boy guessed his cell projected out from a mountain, and hung suspended over a rushing river.

_How does wondering where I am help?_ Shen buried his face in the straw, groaning.

But then he remembered one of Master Thundering Rhino's lessons, stressing the importance of knowing one's surroundings.

Rolling over on his back, Shen reasoned that, besides any practicality it might offer, mulling over his surroundings in this particular situation had calmed him down, even for a moment.

But then the boy's stomach ached as he went back to thinking of his master. Then he perked up, a little. Master Thundering Rhino would find him; he and Masters Croc and Storming Ox, and An and Jie and the wolf guards and the antelope guards would come soon...

Shen's stomach drew his attention again, clenching at the thought of An and Jie and the other junior wolf guards. What if they got hurt—and it would have been preventable, only happening because of his idiocy—

Clamping down angrily on the thought, Shen got up and began to pace, he still needed to loosen up his body after being chained for that long. An and Jie and the others were trained well, they'd be fine. Besides, the older guards, the Masters Council and everyone else would look after them.

Remembering the fire, Shen tripped. He managed to catch himself, but his heart still pounded. Had the fire been stopped—?

Shen took a breath, trying to calm down. Clearly the fire had been set by the Wu Sisters or on their orders, and surely it had been stopped by now, it wasn't like all of Gongmen City would be burnt down if—_when_ he got home.

The boy stilled, his tenuous attempt at calm cracking. It was likely the fire had been the Wu Sisters' plan, not a random occurrence they took advantage of...so had it only been because of him? Was the fire's only goal to distract everyone so that he could be kidnapped?

Shen closed his eyes at the memory of some woman's scream, the little kids crying in the streets, all the chaos and those who'd been burned, some might've even died...

Shivering, the boy took an unsteady kung fu stance. He jerkily practiced a set, trying to ignore the growing guilt. He still pondered; if his kidnapping wasn't the only objective, the Wu Sisters could have launched an attack on Gongmen City during their distraction, maybe even tried to kill his parents and—

Shen's kick stabbed forward viciously, then remained lifted in the air as the boy panted. No, his parents were alive; they were too strong, and if they were dead, he would've been by now too, surely—the Wu Sisters wouldn't have anyone to hold him as a hostage against...unless it was against the whole peacock clan. But Shen didn't think there was a real guarantee the clan would consider him worth their protection, it might just be the opportunity for them to find a better, normal-colored and fortuitous heir...

Head aching, Shen sat down on his pallet, breathing harshly. He couldn't handle thinking about what happened after his capture or trying to figure out provincial politics or anything else right now.

But what else was he supposed to do? He was locked up alone and wasn't an iota tired, despite the lack of sleep he'd found on the voyage. Perhaps it was the sheer terror giving a shot of adrenaline to his system and keeping him awake.

Shen gulped, then bolted upright and practiced another kung fu set, moving faster and more viciously than the last. It was training, it would let off steam, it would soothe him, it was...probably the most uncommon way to fidget and pace. But it would surely tire him out, and maybe his sleep would be deep and dreamless this time.

**A/N: Ending visual meant to parallel canon adult Shen practicing with his staff while waiting for Po's arrival, it looked like a rather violent way to fidget and pace to me.**


End file.
